On 12/29/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Deuteronomy 11:1-25.

The pastor noted that our society is inundated with screens and a false sense of reality, especially children, at an increasingly alarming rate.

The truth is that the Internet, video games, and media in general are often too much for young impressionable minds to handle, especially without close parental supervision. They’re highly addictive, even for adults, and much of the content is inappropriate for youth. They foster impatience, heighten irritability, fuel tempers, destroy self-control, the list goes on and on:

https://www.frictionlessfamilies.com/technology-in-the-family

https://www.drkardaras.com/research.html

Parents need to wake up and stop overexposing their kids to technology and media. (“The Right Kind of Traitor: A Review of Ed Snowden’s Permanent Record,” https://thorncrownministries.com/blog/2019/10/12/Book-Review-Permanent-Record-by-Ed-Snowden)

This, combined with many couples’ desire for more stuff, requiring both the husband and wife to work and neglect their children, brings misery and disappointment. A mother’s calling and purpose and fulfillment is grounded in the home.

Our circumstances shouldn’t dictate our happiness. The apostle Paul attests to this, that while he was in prison, he wrote to the Philippians:

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:14-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. ‭‭(Philippians‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

“Miserable Christians” are therefore a contradiction who reflect Milton’s Satan rather than Paul’s admonitions:

Me miserable! which way shall I flie
Infinite wrauth, and infinite despaire?
Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell;

The pastor read from Deuteronomy:

“Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm…but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did.” ‭‭(Deuteronomy‬ ‭11:1-2‬, 7 NKJV‬‬)

It’s interesting how God said he wasn’t addressing the children in His covenant stipulations. The parents, of course, are charged with instructing their children:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:4ff. ‭NKJV‬‬)

The pastor also encouraged us to write our new year resolutions down, and to remind ourselves of and meditate on them throughout the year. The first step to take for the new year is to remember and rejoice in the God of our salvation, and in His mighty works.

Grow in the Word, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (II Peter‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Be intentional about family worship. Don’t serve God half-heartedly. Be watchful and don’t let the cares of this life hinder your walk with God. “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Luke‬ ‭12:29-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

New Year Resolutions

1. Sleep!

2. Practice family worship consistently

3. Be punctual

4. “Do all things without complaining and disputing”

5. Read the Bible every day

6. Read good books throughout the year

7. Moderate screen time

8. Evangelize

9. Write consistently

On 12/15/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Romans 10:14-21.

We read the account of Christ’s birth:

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (‭‭Luke‬ ‭2:4-11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The church must remember her first love—Christ: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Revelation‬ ‭2:4-5‬ ‭NKJV).

Pastors are called to preach the Word and not be concerned with trends to draw people in. We draw people in with the Truth. On the other extreme, Hyper-Calvinists deny the necessity of preaching the Gospel for men to get saved. But God ordains both the ends and the means, and uses means to achieve His ends:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans‬ ‭10:14-17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Don’t expect for a voice from Heaven to come down and automatically convert the elect. In fact, the pastor noted that the preaching of God’s Word is the voice from Heaven! The reformers believed that faithful biblical preaching carries the same weight and authority as the Words of God Himself. Here’s Calvin:

The word goeth out of the mouth of God in such a manner that it likewise “goeth out of the mouth” of men; for God does not speak openly from heaven, but employs men as his instruments ….

When a man climbs up into the pulpit, is it so that he may be seen from afar and that he may have a higher place than the rest? No, no! But so that God may speak to us by the mouth of man and be so gracious to us to show himself here among us and will have a mortal man to be his messenger. (Qtd. in Glen Clary, “John Calvin: Servant of the Word of God,” https://reformedforum.org/john-calvin-servant-of-the-word-of-god/)

It’s also common for churches to stray whenever the founders pass away. If a strong biblical plurality of elders is not installed in the church, it’s only a matter of time till they fall away or close down, as some of the very first church plants in the Book of Revelation attest:

When Christ said, “I will build my church, and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it,” he was not speaking of any institutional church. The Gates of Hell have prevailed against thousands of institutional churches in the past two millennia. They have become apostate and in most cases have disappeared. The churches to which Paul wrote his letters—Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Rome, Galatia, Philippi, Colosse—no longer exist as Christian churches. The Gates of Hell prevailed against the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Lutheran Church. Christ’s church is not be be confused with any visible organization. (John Robbins, “The Church Irrational,” http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=290)

The Apostle Paul lost some of his battles. When Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the synagogues, he was persecuted by the original antichrist, Judaism. We do not know, but tradition says that Paul died a violent death. (Jesus himself was almost murdered on the Sabbath by devout synagogue-going Jews who did not like his sermon; see Luke 4.) Most of the Jews of the first century rejected Christ; only the remnant was saved. The wrath of God, exercised through an unbelieving and unwitting General Titus, ended the apostate Temple cult – the vaunted Second Temple Judaism of the New Perspective on Paul. It was only through the writing of new Scriptures, the divinely inspired New Testament, and the establishment of new institutions – churches to propagate the doctrines of the Scriptures, both Old and New – that the Gospel survived the first century. As a Christian, Paul did not use force (as Saul he had). He lost battles, but he won the war. (Robbins, “Why Heretics Win Battles,” http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=207)

On 12/8/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Romans 10:11-21.

The pastor explained that is easy to confuse the two natures of Christ, as many ancient heresies attest. It is still a major issue today, because Christology is one of the most difficult doctrines of the Bible. The Creed of Chalcedon provides theological boundaries to keep us from straying, though it doesn’t provide a thorough systematic treatment or crucial definitions, by affirming

one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

Gordon Clark has brilliant contributions to the unresolved Christological problems that the Church still faces in his work on The Incarnation. It’s also important to consider the Reformed Confessions, because “Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to itself; yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture, attributed to the person denominated by the other nature.” (John 3:13; Acts 20:28, https://www.arbca.com/1689-chapter8)

Many churches today preach the love of God but completely leave out or deny the wrath of God. There’s no sense of God’s holiness, as there was with the prophet Isaiah, who cursed himself, saying, “Woe is me! For I am pulverized!” (Isa 6:5) when he saw the Lord sitting on His throne (v. 1). The Reformed tradition, however, has always stressed the importance of this doctrine, even to little children:

Q. What does every sin deserve?
A. The anger and judgment of God (Deut. 27:26; Rm. 1:18; 2:2; Gal. 3:10; Eph. 5:6).

The pastor admonished us to not lose sight of what Christmas is truly about—a Savior being born to redeem fallen mankind from the just wrath of God. This is the gospel, the good news, for all who believe. Christians should not replace Christ with Santa Clause or materialism. It is about being justified—declared righteous by faith alone in Christ alone—and about deliverance from sin and judgment. We’re saved from the condemnation and the power of sin.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:8-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The pastor encouraged us to meditate on two things: That there is nothing good in us, our flesh, and on the greatness of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter‬ ‭1:3-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

“I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life. I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts” (Psalms‬ ‭119:93-94‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

He closed by highlighting the importance of the doctrine of glorification. What will children who die in the Lord look like in the Resurrection? Using the Reformed principle of deducing doctrine by good and necessary consequence from Scripture, we can see that, in the Resurrection, we will have adult glorified bodies. Adam and Eve were created as adults. Childhood is a transition into adulthood: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (I Corinthians‬ ‭13:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). The same is true for those who die in old age. Surely Moses and Elijah did not look like crippled old men when they appeared during Christ’s Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3). Christ will bless us with perfect, mature, glorified bodies when He returns. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians‬ ‭3:20-21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

On 11/28/2019, the Thanksgiving sermon was preached by Pastor Joe Rosales.

The pastor opened the message with the debate regarding the very first Thanksgiving. Traditionally we celebrate the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving, but there was an earlier Thanksgiving held in El Paso, TX by Catholics led by Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate, in which “a mass was said by the Franciscan missionaries traveling with the expedition” (https://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/first-thanksgiving). But as Protestants we unapologetically celebrate Thanksgiving with the Puritans, whether they were first or not!

George Washington gave the first national Thanksgiving Proclamation on 3 October 1789:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-04-02-0091)

Abraham Lincoln established it as a national holiday during the Civil War:

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. (http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm)

The Thanksgiving holiday, however, comes only once a year. It’s occasional. But Christians should always be thankful. The Heidelberg Catechism and Hercules Collins’ Orthodox Catechism distill the Christian life in three words: Guilt, Grace, Gratitude. Christians are called to be a eucharistic—a thanksgiving—people, as James White notes, to “pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks (εὐχαριστεῖτε); for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:17-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). We need to take back the true meaning of eucharist from the Antichrist Church of Rome.

The pastor also noted that cheerful brethren generally make everything better and more enjoyable, for “all the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast” (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭15:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Ultimately, God is good. Period. (Etymologically, good in the “Sense of ‘kind, benevolent’ is from late Old English in reference to persons or God.”) And we must be thankful for that, because we were not good, “but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NKJV). ‬‬Gordon Clark puts it plainly:

God is neither responsible nor sinful, even though he is the only ultimate cause of everything. He is not sinful because in the first place whatever God does is just and right. It is just and right simply in virtue of the fact that he does it. Justice or righteousness is not a standard external to God to which God is obligated to submit. Righteousness is what God does. Since God caused Judas to betray Christ, this causal act is righteous and not sinful. By definition God cannot sin. At this point it must me particularly pointed out that God’s causing a man to sin is not sin. There is no law, superior to God, which forbids him to decree sinful acts. Sin presupposes a law, for sin is lawlessness. Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. But God is “Ex-lex.” (Religion, Reason, and Revelation, in The Works of Gordon Haddon Clark: Christian Philosophy, Vol. 4, pp. 268-69, http://www.trinitylectures.org/christian-philosophy-the-works-of-gordon-haddon-clark-volume-paperback-p-145.html).

The pastor closed with a prayer from William Jay, “For a Day of Thanksgiving—Evening.”

On 11/17/2019 the sermon, “The Christian’s Guide,” preached by elder Albert Hernandez, was based on Psalm 1.

He quotes Ryan Denton:

What Does Man Teach?

1. The Bible Is Not Reliable

But based on what authority is this claim made? Perhaps you say your own. But why assume your authority carries more weight than God’s? You have limited knowledge of every fact in the universe. You are prone to make mistakes. The Bible says your heart “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Perhaps you say the Bible is unreliable because “scholars” told you so. But they also have a limited, mistake-prone understanding of the universe. Not to mention, apart from Christ, they have an axe to grind against God. They are “alienated and hostile in mind” when it comes to God (Colossians 1:21). They passionately desire the Bible to be unreliable and so fabricate ways to twist it to their own agenda and eventual destruction (2 Peter 3:16). Also, who determines which parts are correct and which parts aren’t? The culture? Present feelings? Humans? But these aren’t objective standards, nor are they authoritative. These are all subject to change and are vastly finite in their understanding of the universe. (“The Bible's Apologetic-God Speaks!”, https://www.christinthewild.com/blog/2019/11/14/2zphxrvev3htkp7ft00e084pjxya2e)

The elder refers to Psalm 1 as “the Christian’s Guide,” as many commentators do:

As the book of the Canticles is called the Song of Songs by a Hebraism, it being the most excellent, so this Psalm may not unfitly be entitled, the Psalm of Psalms, for it contains in it the very pith and quintessence of Christianity. What Jerome saith on St. Paul's epistles, the same may I say of this Psalm; it is short as to the composure, but full of length and strength as to the matter. This Psalm carries blessedness in the frontpiece; it begins where we all hope to end: it may well be called a Christian's Guide, for it discovers the quicksands where the wicked sink down in perdition, and the firm ground on which the saints tread to glory. (Thomas Watson's Saints Spiritual Delight, 1660, http://www.biblebb.com/files/SPURGEON/TOD/chstp1.htm)

What does the word blessed mean? “Happy”? It means that and more, explains Spurgeon:

"BLESSED" - see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word translated "blessed" is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, "Oh, the blessednesses!" and we may well regard it (as Ainsworth does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the like benediction rest on us! (http://www.biblebb.com/files/SPURGEON/TOD/chstp1.htm)

Yet there are Christians who suffer from depression, especially those who are prone to introspection. The elder also explained that counsel doesn’t just mean advice, but also a way of thinking, a way of life. It’s a mindset: “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts” (Psalms‬ ‭10:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Planning your life without God, even in your everyday dealings, is one of the patterns of ungodliness and practical atheism: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”” James‬ ‭4:13-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

How mindful are you of the things of God? When you abandon God in your thoughts, you will abandon him in your life. But Christ is the answer, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” I Peter‬ ‭1:18-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.” ‭‭Job‬ ‭23:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The elder admonishes us to pray this for the local church:

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians‬ ‭1:9-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Scripture tells us to love people more and need people less: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts‬ ‭20:35‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

A good admonition for children too is that there’s a time to play, and a time to pray. Everyone is born in Adam, outside of God, “that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians‬ ‭2:12-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We should meditate on and interpret the Bible holistically. Many don’t reap the benefits from Scripture because they may read but don’t think! It’s not the one who reads the most books or listens to the most sermons, but the one who meditates the most on them:

My brethren, there is nothing more wanting to make Christians grow in grace now-a-days than meditation. Most of you are painfully negligent in this matter. You remind me of a sermon that one of my quaint old friends in the country once preached from that text—"The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting." He told us that many people who would hunt for a sermon, were too lazy to roast it by meditation. They knew not how to put the jack of memory through it, and then to twist it round by meditation before the fire of piety, and so to cook it and make it fit for your soul's food. So it is with many of you after you have caught the sermon: you allow it to run away. How often do you, through lack of meditation, miss the entire purpose for which the sermon was designed. Unless ye meditate upon the truths we declare unto you, ye will gather little sweetness, ye will acquire little profit, and, certainly, ye will be in no wise established therein to your edification. Can you get the honey from the comb until you squeeze it! You may be refreshed by a few words while you listen to the sermon, but it is the meditation afterwards which extracts the honey, and gets the best and most luscious savor therefrom. Meditation, my friends, is a part of the life-blood of every true Christian, and we ought to abound therein. (Charles Spurgeon, “Meditation on God,” http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/2690.htm)

After listening to this quote from Spurgeon and reading his sermon, I fell in love with his writings again:

Do not imagine that the meditative man is necessarily lazy; contrariwise, he lays the best foundation for useful works. He is not the best student who reads the most books, but he who meditates the most upon them; he shall not learn most of divinity who hears the greatest number of sermons, but he who meditates the most devoutly upon what he does hear; nor shall he be so profound a scholar who takes down ponderous volumes one after the other, as he who, reading little by little, precept upon precept, and line upon line, digests what he learns, and assimilates each sentiment to his heart by meditation—receiving the word first into his understanding, and afterwards receiving the spirit of the thing into his own soul. When he reads the letters with his eye it is merely mechanical, but that he may read them to his own heart he retires to meditate. Meditation is thus a very excellent employment; it is not the offspring of listlessness or lethargy but it is a satisfactory mode of employing time, and very remunerative to the spirit.

Meditation really is vital, “the lifeblood of every true Christian.” It convinced me to read Spurgeon daily, his Morning and Evening as well as his sermons:

https://www.monergism.com/sermons-charles-spurgeon-4-vol-800-sermons

The elder closed with an admonition from the London Baptist Confession of 1689:

Chapter 19: Of the Law of God

6. Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them as well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to shew what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unallayed rigour thereof. The promises of it likewise shew them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man's doing good and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law and not under grace. (Romans 6:14; Galatians 2:16; Romans 8:1; Romans 10:4; Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7, etc; Romans 6:12-14; 1 Peter 3:8-13; https://www.arbca.com/1689-chapter19)

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Edward Snowden. Permanent Record. Read by Holter Graham. New York: Macmillan Audio, 2019. Audible edition. https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=1250622689&source_code=ASSORAP0511160006

In his autobiography, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden lays out stimulating discussions on education; identity and privacy; the Internet; whistleblowing; government power, contracting, surveillance, and abuse; cloud storage; and encryption.

Alter ego

Snowden makes an interesting case for using alternate identities and anonymity online, which can make people more willing to learn, admit when they’re wrong, and change their view; whereas using real identities tends to defensiveness and obstinacy in order to preserve reputation. He blames government and business for the Internet’s shift towards the latter. Anonymity, however, is a double-edged sword that just as easily emboldens people to be vicious and wicked (needless to say, much online behavior reflects this) and to shirk responsibility/accountability.

Growing Up…Online

Snowden’s upbringing sheds light on a number of issues. In some ways the young Snowden reminds me of my younger self, an obsessive, all-or-nothing kind of guy, diving headlong into whatever captured my attention, rarely coming up for air. Growing up, especially through puberty, Snowden spent most of his time playing video games and going online, learning as much as he could on messaging boards, without hardly any moderation or supervision. He advocates this kind of activity as a way of self-discovery, of growing up and finding identity; and sees hacking as a way of becoming equal with adults, since technical skill and acumen matter more than age. Somewhat similar to Snowden, however, several mass shooters spent lots of time in the Internet’s sewers, messaging boards like 8chan:

https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/8chan/

The truth is that the Internet, video games, and media in general are often too much for young impressionable minds to handle, especially without close parental supervision. They’re highly addictive, even for adults, and much of the content is inappropriate for youth. They foster impatience, heighten irritability, fuel tempers, destroy self-control, the list goes on and on:

https://www.frictionlessfamilies.com/technology-in-the-family

https://www.drkardaras.com/research.html

Parents need to wake up and stop overexposing their kids to technology and media.

Snowden’s life is also a sad but all too common object lesson of the devastating impact of divorce on children. It affected Snowden deeply when his parents were no longer together. He rightly describes it as both becoming a parent—maturing too quickly by being overexposed to adult problems—and as losing a parent, at the same time. Divorce is a vicious cycle that harms the children the most, including, but not limited to, the separated parents outdoing each other by buying the nicer gifts for their kids, and using the kids to spy on the other parent’s love life; kids having to choose which parent to stay with, and having to “be the parent” with their own parents when they become unstable; and, one of the worst consequences, kids constantly blaming themselves for the divorce. Even though his parents eventually “reconciled” by agreeing to flourish separately, the damage is done and requires supernatural intervention to truly overcome.

Cyber Religion

It’s interesting how Snowden uses overtly religious language to describe the early Internet, what he calls the most successful anarchy he’s ever experienced, which is consistent with his general distrust of authority, and thinking people are better off raising themselves in an online world that’s free of government corruption and corporate greed. He claims that the nascent Internet was more forgiving of online transgressions, and gave people the freedom to start over. The Internet was his idol, and the online communities he frequented his church, an attempt to find community and a sense of belonging. It reminds me of the documentary Ringers: Lord of the Fans, which shows real people forming cults that practically worship Tolkien’s fictional characters. One woman claimed The Lord of the Rings saved her life. Ian McKellen, the actor who played Gandalf, made the stupefying assertion that The Lord of the Rings is true and the Bible is false. John Calvin rightly said the human heart is a perpetual idol factory. It’s sad to see even conscientious individuals, who want justice to triumph corruption, idolize the most ridiculous things, exchanging “the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans‬ ‭1:25‬); rather than worship Christ Jesus, the real God-Man, “the way, the truth, and the life” (‭‭John‬ ‭14:6‬)‬‬, the only One who can truly forgive all our sins and give us, not just a fresh start, but a perfect record of righteousness based on Christ’s perfect life and finished work on the Cross. No works required, just faith: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John‬ ‭5:24‬).

“Homo contractus”

Snowden levels sharp criticisms against the Intelligence Community’s (IC) government contracting, a way of “hacking” the federal head count limits placed on each agency. The black budget he leaked implies that the IC employs just as many contractors as government employees. Due partly to rapid advances in technology, the government turned to the private sector to hire contractors, sidestepping the established vetting and hiring process. Employees often start working for the government to get clearance levels and then jump ship to the highest bidding contractor the first chance they get. IC directors and Congresspeople land cushy jobs with the contracting companies they hired for the government, a blatant conflict of interest. What passes off as “innovation” is more like governmentally assisted corruption. This in part made it possible for Snowden to gain access to all the NSA’s secret documents as a contracted sysadmin fairly quickly.

The Cloud of centralized servers

I appreciated Snowden’s criticism of “cloud” storage, which is regressive technology that stores our data in untold racks of servers consolidated in large data centers, euphemistically pitched as “the cloud.” Consenting to these cloud services means that companies do whatever they want with our data: read it, scan it, sell it, delete it. We don’t really know where our data is and what cloud companies are doing with it. And who knows what parts of the cyber world our data has traveled.

Overall, this is an important book that deals with many pertinent issues affecting us today, though I would’ve liked for Snowden to add VPNs to the discussion, but he didn’t mention them; or to treat some of the controversial fallout resulting from his leaks, such as Operation Socialist:

https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/48/

He gives an excellent discussion of the need for encryption to permeate our online activity and for users to take advantage of anonymous browsers like Tor and messaging apps like Signal, which will reform the Internet back to the “purer” form that Snowden reminisces about:

http://reformedlibertarian.com/articles/politics/simple-online-privacy-measures-everyone-should-be-taking-but-arent/

Disclaimer: The book has some salty language, which was a little unexpected because it starts relatively clean.

On 9/22/2019 the sermon, “The Cry For Revival,” preached by elder Albert Hernandez, was based on Micah 7.

Micah means “Who is like Jehovah?” The book starts with judgment for Israel and Judah but ends with eschatological hope following the destruction.

The preacher said that repetition is important. God frequently repeats Himself to His people, for we often forget and go astray. That’s also why reform is often necessary. Hezekiah, for example, starts well and leads religious reforms but doesn’t end well. “After Hezekiah’s illness, he was visited by envoys from Babylon. Hezekiah shows them all of Jerusalem’s treasuries. Isaiah rebukes him for this and prophesies the Babylonian exile (2 Kgs 20:14–19)” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary).

The elder encouraged the church to use the Reformed confessions and catechisms. Our church reads from reformed catechisms every Lord’s Day. Most are available free online and in print from Chapel Library:

https://chapellibrary.org/book/cfba/catechism-for-boys-and-girls-a-hulseerroll

https://chapellibrary.org/book/lbcw/the-london-baptist-confession-of-faith-of-1689-with-preface-baptist-catechism-and-appendix-on-baptism

He also quoted the Westminster Confession, Chapter V, On Providence:

The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to [chastise] them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled;t and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.

J.C. Ryle said the greatest trials we face are disappointments in those we love:

Finally, let us leave the passage with a deep sense of our Lord's ability to sympathize with His believing people. If there is one trial greater than another, it is the trial of being disappointed in those we love. It is a bitter cup, which all true Christians have frequently to drink. Ministers fail them. Relations fail them. Friends fail them. One cistern after another proves to be broken, and to hold no water. But let them take comfort in the thought, that there is one unfailing Friend, even Jesus, who can be touched with the feeling of their infirmities, and has tasted of all their sorrows. Jesus knows what it is to see friends and disciples failing Him in the hour of need. Yet He bore it patiently, and loved them notwithstanding all. He is never weary of forgiving. Let us strive to do likewise. Jesus, at any rate, will never fail us. It is written, "His compassions fail not" (Lam. 3:22). (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels)

Another good point the elder made is that sermons are for judgment and rebuke in addition to comfort and edification. God rebukes and chastens those He loves, and pastors are likewise commanded to do the same. We have consolation that God will judge on our behalf and avenge us rather than judge us.

The little foxes ruin the entire vineyard. Ryle said little habits matter:

“Oh, my dear children, who can tell the power of the littles? The power of littles is very wonderful! No one knows what can be done by a little, and a little, and a little.” Ryle continues: “Oh, the importance of little habits! Habits of reading, habits of prayer, habits at meals, little habits through the day—all are little things. But they make up the character, and are of utmost importance.”

The elder noted the last verse of Micah 7, a profound message, and encouraged the church to study it, specifically the words “tread” and “cast”: “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea” (Micah‬ ‭7:19‬ ‭NASB‬‬).

I’ll end with food for thought. A couple of Sundays ago we sang the hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory.” The lyrics seem fine, nothing questionable, but I tend to check the author of every hymn we sing. I was surprised that the author was Harry Emerson Fosdick, “the foremost proponent and popularizer of theological liberalism” who opposed Gresham Machen during the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy. This begs the question: Is it proper for churches to use hymns written by liberals or false teachers, even if the hymn may not contain questionable content? Pastor G. Craige Lewis sheds light on this issue. There’s a distinction between the lyrics of a song and the spirit—motive, intent—behind the song. Just because the lyrics may not be questionable doesn’t necessarily mean that the spirit the author wrote it in is right. Take the slave girl in Acts 16, for example:

It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

It turns out that she was telling the truth about Paul and company, but…

She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. (‭‭Acts‬ ‭16:16-18‬ ‭NASB‬‬)

The slave girl had perverse motives for telling the truth—to make her masters more money by tapping into the Christian market. It’s possible to say the right thing in the wrong spirit.