“George Bush is the Antichrist!” and More Theological Fun

I recently received a spam email trying to convince me that George W. Bush is the Antichrist. I’ve never heard of the author of this dissertation, probably for good reason. Theological quacks like this abound on the internet, but I really wonder what they are trying to accomplish by sending out incomprehensible essays with so many theological holes that you can fly Binny Hinn’s private jet through. This guy was about as convincing as Harold Camping trying to expound his “Jesus is Coming in 2011″ nonsense.

I never voted for Bush in either 2000 or 2004, but that was because I did not believe he was a true conservative, not because he was the Man of Sin!

Guys like this remind me of the poor fellow I talked to back in the late 1980s who was convinced that the Jews were really extra-terrestrials from Alpha Centauri and that the mother ship was on the way to Earth to pick them up. This man was convinced that these “Jews” were out “to get him” because he had discovered their secret and that they had stolen some sort of secret mathematical formula he had discovered. He produced about 10 pages of handwritten scrawl to prove his theory. I still have it and pull it out whenever I need a laugh.

Using the Psalter

I just got back from my second trip to Maine in two weeks (and a third one is scheduled for mid-August). One highlight was a visit to Mid-Coast Baptist Church in Brunswick, Maine, pastored by Bobby Mitchell. After a bit of difficulty in finding the church, we did arrive in time for the evening service. Pastor Mitchell asked to to bring a short exhortation and I was glad for the opportunity.

I noticed that Mid-Coast used a copy of the Psalter. This is something that very few Baptist Churches use. Besides our church, Mid-Coast is the only other church I have ever visited that uses it (okay, I don’t get into that many churches, but you get my point). I was glad to see another church following this Scriptural command regarding our corporate worship. But few churches practice it. Maybe we think it is too high brow. Maybe we think it is too Presbyterian. More likely, the lack of use of the psalter is caused by two things:

1. Ignorance of it. Not many people know what it is or how to since from it.
2. The decline of music in Bible-believing churches. Most people would rather since praise-and-worship ditties or Southern Gospel music.

There are several Psalters out there. I like the one by Isaac Watts. We use the one put out by the Church of Scotland. I would recommend both. Charles Spurgeon included the Psalms in his From our Own Hymnbook.

Since we are commanded to sing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”, a revival of the singing of Psalms both privately and in congregational worship is something that we have neglected for far too long and is a practice that really needs to be revived.

Back? And Some Random Radio Thoughts

Maybe it’s time to brush off the blog after a break of several months. Some things are just too long to stick in a 140-word tweet.

Just got back from Nova Scotia, so I naturally had the radio on. When it comes to Christian radio through New England and the Maritimes, forget it. Bring your own music and sermon tapes instead, or listed to all-news stations like WCBS, WBZ or News 88.9 in Saint John, New Brunswick. While you may occasionally hear some good preaching (if you are lucky), 99% of the music will be contemporary. It seems that nearly no one programs sacred traditional music anymore. Family Radio (they have stations in Philadelphia, Newark and Hartford) has tolerable music for the most part, but when Harold Camping comes on with his 2011 nonsense and his “I sure hope I’m saved” folly, it ruins everything. BBN has a station in Portland but their music is more hit-and-miss. You may hear a good song, followed by three contemporary ones.

The state of Maine has a surprising number of Christian stations, but none are worth listening to. There is a station in Bath on 105.9 FM (I’ve actually managed to hear that station here in Delaware) offers the usual new-evangelical fare. K-Love and “God’s County” in Augusta and the Bangor station on 88.5 FM are train-wrecks.

There is an increasing number of Christian stations in the Maritimes. I heard one in Saint John and there are stations in Sussex, Moncton and Truro, as well as ones near my in-laws place in Aylesford and Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Again, all of these stations reject sacred traditional music. It is as if they fear that teenagers won’t listen unless they program CCM with heavy beats or the light and airy music. It really is discouraging but not surprising.

While in the motel room in Bangor (I really can’t recommend the Travelodge that much) I stumbled across Peter Popoff on the telly. Remember him? He got caught cheating in one of his healing crusades when he had a radio receiver in his ear and had one of his employees feeding him info on his victims that he claimed he was receiving from the Holy Spirit. Popoff was peddling the usual “Get Rich Quick” version of Christianity. It amazes me that anyone, Christian or not, could actually fall for such a ponzi scheme. I heard a man once say “You can’t con an honest man”. It makes me wonder about the motivations of those who watch and follow the prosperity preachers.

Okay, so I will probably reactivate the Remnant Christian Blog to discuss devotional issues (such as my current emphasis on Psalm 119, a psalm I have somewhat neglected) and some religious matters of interest to remnant saints.