A time for boldness [Acts 4]

Last night I posted a quote about the decline of belief in the West and BPS commented Which I thank him for, for it is as good a segue into what today’s text is about.


I must disagree.
I do not think it’s because we’re abandoning God (as in, in the process of doing so).

I think it’s because we have already replaced God with Women. For whatever unfathomable reason. Thus, the trope of putting women on a pedestal.

The question is not as much that the world is against us. It is. And when Russia fell to the Bolsheviks, there were still fervent believers within the nation. In fact, Tsarist Russia, which Solzhenitsyn said had abandoned the faith, was probably more righteous than the modern West. But he is correct in that the rot we have is because we have left the faith, and credulously believe anyone who has a pretty lie, be they feminofascists, Islamofascists or homofascists.

We are fallen. Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song, which is now at least two decades old, describes how things have changed. Anna Karena was damned for having an affair: the eponymous heroine of this song is celebrated for rinsing her husband and children into the gutter because of feelings, as she mocks her husband’s fidelity.

The times are challenging. And what should we do? Follow the example of the apostles: become bold as lions: and let not our speech be regulated.

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Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

(Acts 4:13-31 ESV)

How does this work out? Well, I have to thank Mundabor for the hat tip, but the Black Churches in the USA give us an example. They have called the PCUSA Apostate, and disfellowshiped themselves from the denomination: what hurts in particular is that there are around 16 million who attend Historically Black Churches within that fellowship, and only about 2 million members of the PCUSA, who used to be the mainline Presbyterians.


Evans said that no church has the right to change the Word of God
and PCUSA’s move to redefine marriage is an immediate forfeiture of Christ’s saving grace.

“In this case, PCUSA deliberately voted to change the Word of God and the interpretation of holy marriage between one man and one woman. This is why we must break fellowship with them and urge the entire Christendom to do so as well,” he added.

The NBCI further denounced PCUSA’s manipulation and declared it a “universal sin” against the entire church and its members.

“With this action, PCUSA can no longer base its teachings on 2,000 years of Christian scripture and tradition, and call itself a Christian entity in the body of Christ. It has forsaken its right by this single wrong act,” Evans noted.

A commentator said that the PCUSA is committing religious suicide on this issue, for it is not merely the historically black churches who are bold damning the leadership, but historically Presbyterian congregations. It is not a time to be quiet: and it is worthwhile noting that as these heathens take over the make it hard to leave.

By an overwhelming supermajority, Buffalo Church members voted to separate from the denomination due to its rejection of the authority of Scripture.

“Because of our conviction of the truth of the Bible, the reality of Jesus, and scriptural morals, Buffalo Presbyterian Church has, after a long and extensive journey, successfully extricated itself from the PCUSA denomination,” said Interim Pastor Dr. Alex McFarland. “As followers of Christ, we are called first and foremost to recognize and adhere to the authority and truth of God’s Word. Embracing homosexual unions and declaring them to be blessed by God is an arrogant contradiction of this truth. Tragically, the Presbyterian Church of the USA has abandoned 2,000 years of Christian orthodoxy, and is leading others astray through its teachings. Buffalo Presbyterian Church mourns the falling away of the PCUSA, but we are constricted by our declaration of faith to look to Scripture alone as the ultimate authority on all matters of doctrine and teaching.”

Buffalo Presbyterian Church made the decision approximately one year ago to separate itself from the denomination, but doing so is no easy task, as PCUSA requires that a church not only obtain permission to leave but also pay a fee to the denomination. As part of the permission process, Buffalo Presbyterian Church was required to take a vote of its members, and in not one vote but two, church members by an overwhelming supermajority voted to separate from PCUSA due to its rejection of the authority of Scripture.

The church will now affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which follows Scripture first and foremost and embraces the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Founded in 1756, the historic Buffalo Presbyterian Church predates the creation of the United States of America by two decades, and the church was standing in 1781 when the struggle for America’s freedom was fought at nearby Guilford Courthouse.

So we have some good contemporary examples of this. So why is it difficult.

Firstly, the rulers want credentials. Which the Apostles lacked: the Sanhedrin noted that they were unschooled and without theological skills. Yet they argued back, not respecting the authority of the Scholars on the council.

Secondly, the rulers want to regulate our speech, telling us what is appropriate and inappropriate, consigning most of the institutional evil of this age into a post-modern form of the Marxist cone of silence. They way they do this is by accusing us of being a bigot, being impolite, being unloving, and by not knowing what is going on. You can see this all the time.

Screenshot from 2015-04-11 08:36:16
Vox Day is North American Indian, but does not fit within the narrative. And the narrative crumbles as the lies pile up. As Brad Torgersen says.


The internet has allowed yellow journalism
and rumor-mongering to run riot. And I have to be honest. No lie told in the service of a supposedly higher cause, ever does justice to the higher cause. No matter how widely-spread the narrative. If the basis of the narrative is false, then the narrative itself is fatally undermined, and thus the arguments that form the building blocks of the narrative are themselves undermined.

Screenshot from 2015-04-11 08:35:03

The regulation of our speech is to keep the lies going. And this leads us to the third issue.

In the face of opposition, we play tactics, not strategy. The narrative of the elite is destructive, it is from the pit. We do not pray enough. We do not consider that the nations rage against the light. And we find dealing with people who hate, who complain continually to any organization that will investigate us, draining. We need to pray, for boldness, for courage and for energy, so we can obey the clear word of God.

And if we do that, we will truly be hated. Let the haters come. For me and my house will serve the LORD.