Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him.

Eulogy & Gospel; In Memoriam Hilda Mae TeVelde

As we begin the service we note that this service was all planned out by Hilda after Cal died. She decided that all the final arrangements would too difficult for her children given everything else they would be responsible for at her death, so she planned the Memorial service. Upon completion of all the details, she sighed and said to her daughter, Amie …

“It’s going to be such a lovely service, too bad I won’t be there to enjoy it.”

It is my prayer that you will agree with Hilda about the service.


We turn then to the eulogy. Eulogy literally means “Good word.” Christians have always had eulogies at these services because we believe that each life is created as the image of God and as created in the image of God we want to praise that image that was reflected in the deceased. The eulogy is not an attempt to “preach someone into heaven,” rather the purpose of the eulogy is to glorify God for His handiwork in the life of the person being spoken of. The eulogy is to glorify God.

And so we speak of Hilda Mae TeVelde and we thank the Lord Christ for her life. We thank the Lord Christ for how impressed Himself upon her character. Hilda was born and Baptized in a Christian home in the Dutch Reformed tradition with many of the old world traditions part of her upbringing. She was catechized very early and made confession of faith. All of that old world tradition … all of that catechism became part of Hilda’s character.

She excelled in what Christian women of her time and generation excelled at. She lived in a time when the Biblical roles of men and women as found in Scripture were much more embraced… especially as in the conservative Dutch Christian community. As such she embraced the blessing of being a faithful wife and mother as she had embraced before that being a faithful daughter and sister. Eventually with the passing of time Hilda was a faithful Grandmother and Aunt.

Her family was central to her life. A visit to her home demonstrates that. Every occasion when Jane and I would enter into her home I would sit at the table to visit with her and right behind me were photos piled upon photos of primarily her family, but also of many friends and their children. In our conversations I would learn about her recent DeVries or TeVelde family reunion. I think it might have been in these conversations where I learned about the incredible life span the Dutch often have. Hilda would regale us with stories about her nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews… about sisters and sisters-in-laws and brothers and brothers-in-laws and cousins and other assorted family members. My mind could not recall all the names. She loved her family, and this is a characteristic of the godly woman as we find her in the Bible.

She loved and married Cal TeVelde and made a home with Cal and with the children who would soon follow. Perhaps the highest praise of her then could be that of wife and mother, Aunt and Grandmother. She loved y’all deeply. She would commonly ask me to pray for this or that family member during our visits.

Consistent with all this Hilda cooking was legendary. At the various and sundry covered dish dinners at the Church Hilda’s dishes were often the first to be mysteriously emptied. Now, generally speaking the Dutch of her generation knew how to navigate a kitchen and Hilda was a reflection of that.

Hilda loved her gardening year in and year out. During some of our visits she would get as riled as she could about the pesky varmints who were eating her produce. Some men in the Church put up a fence one year but the varmints only found that obstacle humorous. Still, Hilda got a lot of produce out of her garden and would be routinely canning or freezing this or that vegetable. Her fondness of gardening stayed with her to the very end as on her porch this year she had some beans, tomatoes, peppers and squash growing.

As we mentioned earlier though, it was Hilda’s Christian faith that defined who she was. That was seen in her children while little observing their Mom during the evenings sitting alone in the living room reading. Since most of the family life happened in the kitchen or the family room they found that odd but when they became a little older they realized that the book she was reading was her Bible. Hilda routinely stole away from the hubbub of a busy family life to find solace with the Lord.

You see, like all Christians, Hilda’s identity was wrapped up with her Christianity. Like all Christians her Christian faith was not merely an accessory – something one could take off and put on like a piece of clothing but her Christian faith was just who she was.

She grew up in a Christian home being taught the Christian faith. I have found myself wondering over the course of the past few days how many times Hilda might have heard the Heidelberg Catechism or a sermon on the Heidelberg catechism during her life. You see, when she grew up and well into her adult years and aged years she would hear a sermon on that Catechism every Lord’s Day. This was what she was taught and it is what she believed as a Christian.

The Catechism teaches the good news of Jesus Christ. It starts by reminding us that our only comfort in life and death is that we are not our own but belong body and soul and in life and death to our faithful savior Jesus Christ,who with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.

Hilda then was taught throughout her whole life that there were three things one had to know in order to live and die in this comfort. This is the Christianity she embraced her whole life and that belief made her to be the person that she was.

Hilda knew, per the teaching of the Catechism, based as it was on Scripture, how great her sin and misery was. Christians embrace the truth that all have sinned and come short of God’s just standard. We know this because that is what the Bible teaches. We understand that without the forgiveness of Jesus Christ whatever goodness we can find in ourselves is as stained and filthy rags. Throughout her life Hilda, sitting under the teaching of her Catechism understood that apart from Christ the only word the Scripture teaches to men is that they are without hope because the just wrath of God abides on them because of their rebellion against God revealing itself in their self-centered living.

Hilda, embraced though that there was a solution to man’s sin problem. She, following that catechism knew and embraced that the only solution to her alienation from God and God’s wrath against her was by trusting Christ. Hilda embraced that Christ who knew no sin, and became sin for us that His people might become the righteousness of God in Christ. Hilda knew that in Christ Jesus there was no condemnation. Yes, sin does accuse but Christ dying in our place as our substitute – the just for the unjust – puts an end to the power of sin to accuse. Hilda, having sat in Christian churches her whole life knew and embraced for herself that her only hope was found in nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness. The catechism teaches that men, in order to escape God’s just judgment against sin must trust in Jesus Christ who alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

Well, we said that Hilda’s catechism taught her that there were three things she must know in order to live and die in the comfort of knowing that we belong to our faithful savior Jesus Christ. We said the first was we must know and embrace the truth of our sin and misery. Second we have said that we must know and embrace the truth that the solution for that sin and misery is the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. The redemption and deliverance for all men pivots on knowing Christ. The third truth we must know in order to have Jesus Christ as our faithful savior is the matter of gratitude.

I remember once in church some years ago I was teaching the children’s sermon and I was trying to get the children to remember these three points of what we must know. The children were having trouble remembering

How Great our Sin and Misery
How Great our Deliverance
How Great our Gratitude.

As they were struggling to remember Hilda piped up and said … “Sin, Salvation, Service,” hoping to make the memory work for the children easier.

And Hilda lived out the service/gratitude part of the Catechism. The catechism teaches that the way we live out our gratitude to God for so great a salvation is to walk in faith, under the unction of the Spirit consistent with God’s Law. The catechism teaches that the Christian who loves Jesus Christ for the great deliverance He has secured by His death and resurrection walks in ever increasing though never perfect obedience to the ten commandments. Walking consistent with God’s law out of the joy of gratitude for being rescued from my sin and misery and not out of the motive fear that God’s going to get me, is the delight of the Christian. It was the delight of Hilda TeVelde.

If you are sitting here and do not know the three things that you must know in order to live and die in the comfort of belonging to Jesus Christ allow me to encourage you to have mercy upon your soul and to own the Jesus Christ whom Hilda is now in the presence of. The lacking of that in your life is too horrible to contemplate.

The Kirk Extravaganza…. Random Observations I

Who would have ever thought that 30+ million Americans would consume 5 hours of a  memorial/political Extravaganza that was all about wrapping up the Republican party in the Christian flag with a Charlie Kirk bow on top?

Here are some of my off the cuff observations;

1.) There is no doubt that there was in that whole imbroglio Christian/Gospel truth spoken and for that we are thankful and rejoice. In Philippians 1 St. Paul could write from prison;

15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16  The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

So where Christianity/Gospel was proclaimed I join St. Paul in rejoicing.

2.) However, I also join St. Paul in understanding that, as it was in his time so it is in our time that people preach Christ from selfish ambition and not sincerely. Look, Politicians at this level are Lizard People. They do nothing that will not advance their agenda. They will say anything, do anything, feign anything to convince the citizenry that they belong to a noble race and only want to do what the citizenry wants them to do. Politicians, as Lizard People have zero compassion, zero genuineness, zero transparency, and zero sympathy. As Lizard People they are not like your average moral American citizen. They just are not.

Last night I saw a whole gaggle of Lizard people saying things that they would never say if it were not politically convenient for them to be saying such things. I would bet the farm that most of them had no idea what they were saying after they were done saying what they said. They had excellent speech writers who put the words in their mouths they needed to say. I mean … please … does anyone really buy the idea of Marco Rubio or Tulsi Gabbard as Christian Evangelist?

3.) I am old enough to remember all the faux religiosity (Christianity) following 9-11. Last night was a case of;

Second verse
Same as the first
A little bit louder 
And a little bit worse

How many times does Lucy have to promise that “this time I am really really really going to hold that football so you can kick it through the goal post, Charlie Brown,” before we realize that Lucy is never going to hold that damn football so Charlie Brown can kick it?

4.) There are many Evangelicals and even Reformed who are insisting, “God is sending us Revival.” Maybe …. but I’d wait on publishing that until we begin to see;

a.) More and more Christians taking their children out of public schools
b.) Les and less aid being given to Israel – an enemy of Christ
c.) Fewer and Fewer Democrats and RINO’s being elected
d.) A significant drop in the violent crime rate
e.) The visible church doing a boatload of repenting and people leaving all kinds of churches because their former churches won’t repent
f.) Abortion being outlawed in all 50 states
g.) People embracing the time honored tradition of Christian Nationalism and the Ordo Amoris (as combined called Kinism).
h.) People raising the issue of returning to a time of blue laws on Sundays
i.) A Nation wide advocacy for the end of the Federal Reserve
j.) A Nation wide advocacy for the end of the Great Society programs
k.) A Nation wide advocacy for the reversal of the civil rights legislation
l.) A return to labeling LGBTQ etc. people as suffering from insanity
m.) An end to both legal and illegal immigration from 3rd world countries
n.) The forced expatriation of all illegal immigrants in these united States
o.) A return to a value backed currency

When these things begin to happen then you can talk to me about how Americans are going through revival/reformation. Until then it is just so much charismania emotionalism.

5.) You want me to believe that RFK Jr. after his life long whoremongering is now a virtuous man? You must be kidding … right?

6.) Honestly, at the end of the day all last night was, was one part Billy Graham crusade, one part Tim Keller-ism, one part Bill Hybel’s Church Growth program, one part Pentecostal “can’t you just feel the Spirit moving” Sunday morning church, and one part Jesus was a populist Republican.

7.) I am all for the left being destroyed. Having said that, I think Edward Bernays (one of the most famous Propagandists of the 20th century) would have been proud of the propaganda feast that was put on last night. For example, you don’t really think the Bagel Stephen Miller is a Christian convert do you?

8.) Just imagine how shattered and destroyed R2K fanboys are this morning. They had to endure 5 hours of Politicians getting out of their lanes and talking about Jesus Christ. Even if those politicians were not being sincere (and I don’t think they were) that event last night finds the R2K crowd suffering major migraines this morning. On the other hand, once last night is finally exposed for being the con it was, R2K is going to be able to point at that extravaganza and say, “I told you so.” Now, as usual R2K will be in error when they eventually say that because of the fact that they do not have the ability to realize that all because a nation’s leader’s wrap up a false Jesus in the American flag doesn’t mean we shouldn’t wrap up the true Jesus in the American flag.

9.) A clerg acquaintance of mine called my observations about last night as evidence of me being “a purist.” It wasn’t intended as a compliment.

Well, I think the only alternative to being a purist is being a impurist, or being a compromiser. So, I’ll go with being a purist along with the likes of the Apostle Paul, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Augustine, Gottschalk of Orbais, Hus, Luther, Calvin, Cromwell, Paisley, Knox, Goodman, Dabney, Machen, etc. There could be worse company to keep.

10.) The Influencer Jon Harris said of last night;

“Jesus doesn’t seem to be letting this country go.”

My response was to say that;

Just amazing because I look at what happened last night and conclude just exactly the opposite.

11.) What was that line from that “Revenge of the Sith” Star Wars movie?

They were deliriously applauding the Sith Emperor’s speech in the meeting of their legislature and Padme says;

 

"So this is how liberty dies; with thunderous applause."


12.) In Orwell’s novel, “1984,” the screens, or telescreens, (such as was seen last night at the Stadium and such as what people at home were viewing on) are a constant presence in the lives of Oceania’s citizens, blurring the line between public spectacle and private observation. People are not simply watching the screens; the screens are watching them. Honestly, I view last night as a case of public hypnotism. It was an event intended to provide a vast Republican narrative. If I were a Democrat this morning I’d be very fearful. Of course, I loathe Democrats and couldn’t care less if they’re fearful and if they are eventually totally diminished.

13.) I have to be honest… as I was sitting viewing this extravaganza I was thinking;

OK… Since Charlie Kirk is as esteemed as he is let it be known that not many clergy can make the claim I am about to make.

Both Bret L. McAtee and Charlie Kirk were together on the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) “hate” list.

If you want to hear Charlie Kirk’s social order beliefs preached then you’ll have to attend one of the very few Protestant Reformed Churches in the Nation that has as it’s Pastor a man who earned the same disgust as Charlie Kirk did as coming from the SPLC.

TPUSA and Charlotte Christ the King Reformed Church …. fighting the same battle and hated by the same demonic enemies.

If you loved Charlie you should love Bret.

14.) Not to belabor a previously made point but where were all these Christian magistrates 5 minutes ago? Last night was the first time I have ever heard of all this Christian faith being held by all these Christian speakers.

Man, these Dudes got themselves some religion and that almost instantly.

15.) Apparently most people aren’t aware when they are being manipulated.

16.) There are some who would insist that last night was an example of “Cultural Christianity.” Cultural Christianity is defined as that Christianity that impacts the culture from the residue of genuine Christianity but not so much that it is more than an inch deep in sincerity and reality.

I believe in Cultural Christianity. I believe it is far superior to Cultural non-Christianity. However, I see cultural Christianity as the cheap by product that arises when a genuine Christian foundation has been set. If there is no genuine Christian foundation than the resultant “Cultural Christianity” is going to be just as bad or worse than Cultural non-Christianity.

17.) Republicans also embrace the truth of “never let a crisis go to waste.”

18.) No Reformed person who understands their Confessions could ever find themselves getting excited about the kind of Christianity that is being pushed at the Kirk extravaganza. One has to ask which God… which Jesus Christ …which Christianity was being advocated?

Although Bishop Laud would be very excited about this Christianity from last night. Remember Bishop Laud? He was the Christian Bishop who supported persecuting the Puritans.

19.) “We want religion back in America.”

President J. Trump
Kirk Extravaganza

Pray tell ….. which religion or just religion in general?

Trump’s statement reminds me of an old Eisenhower quote from when he was President;

“Our form of government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.”

20.) The Republican party is now the “Christian” party and the DEMS will have to run against “Christianity” in order to get elected.

 

 

 

On Why You Shouldn’t Believe Myths About “Crazed Lone Shooters”

I have seen that chaps like Jon Harris are pushing the FEDS narrative that the patsy, Tyler Robinson, was the crazy lone shooter of Charlie Kirk. I find this humorous, because, it is supposed to be the Boomers (like me) who are the ones who are gullible.

Now, I honestly like Harris. He’s a solid chap.  He’s good on issues of the South. He’s good on exposing hypocrisy among the Southern Baptists. (His expose on J. D. Greear is magnificent.) He’s good on Christian Nationalism. However, on this Charlie Kirk assassination thing Jon Harris is horrid.

I have no inside baseball knowledge on what happened at Utah Valley University with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. However, I do have two observations that make  me realize that Kirk’s martyrdom was most certainly not accomplished by a crazy lone nut case Trannie lover.

The first observation comes from Charlie Kirk himself. It is now widely known from Max Blumenthal at “Grayzone” that Kirk was having Jew problems. Charlie had gotten off the Jewish reservation and Jewish donors had been giving him all kinds of grief. More importantly, Kirk had turned down money and an invite to visit Israel from the Jewish Godfather Netanyahu. One presumes that Don Bibi was going to make Charlie an offer  that Charlie couldn’t refuse. Indeed, so much pressure was being brought upon Kirk that the last text he sent to the Christian and rock legend Alice Cooper was;

“They’re watching me. If I fall don’t let my voice die.”

Now, the “They’re” in that sentence above was not the Tranny pink mafia. It’s pretty clear in light of recent reporting that Charlie was looking over his shoulder and seeing a Kosher threat shadowing him.

The second observation that drives me to conclude that Kirk was not killed by a 22 year old crazed lone gunman who had a thing for Trannies is my knowledge of history. The FEDS have spent my entire life and your entire life (regardless of your age) lying to us about the most important events in the world and now we’re supposed to believe them now on the subject of Kirk’s death?

Regardless what the FEDS are telling us about the alleged shooter of Kirk, here’s what I know;

1.) The FEDS lied to my great Grandparents when they insisted that Lusitania was not carrying ordnance to help the British war effort. The sinking of the Lusitania was used to inflame favor for US entry into WW I.

2.) The FEDS lied to my Grandparents when they insisted that Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack. The only surprise surrounding Pearl Harbor is that surprise the Japs had when they finally learned that the US had deciphered their messaging after the war.

3.) The FEDS lied to my Father when they insisted that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a causus belli so as to involve us even deeper into Vietnam. There was no “Gulf of Tonkin” incident. It was all a ruse.

4.) The FEDS lied to the Americans about the USS Liberty fiasco.

5.) The FEDS lied to the Americans about US Defense Secretary James Vincent Forrestal throwing himself out of a 16th floor window at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. Forrestal was murdered. He did not commit suicide.

6.) The FEDS lied to us about the whole JFK hit job as pursued by the CIA with LBJ’s connivance. The FEDS lied about Oswald. They lied about Jack Rubinstein. They lied in the Warren Report.

7.) The FEDS lied to us about the CIA takedown of Richard Nixon imbroglio.

8.) The FEDS lied to us about the Oklahoma City bombing.

9.) The FEDS lied to us about the Twin Towers & 9-11

10.) The FEDS lied to us about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

Antony Scott Homer added two more;

11.) The FEDS lied to my then teen great grandparents about the sinking of the Titanic. It was then that the Federal Reserve came to be targeting the gold/silver standards and crediting value of monies in favor of the FEDS.

12) The FEDS lied to my great grandparents about the Hindenburg on being
fueled by hydrogen and lifted by helium she and whomever died were sacrificed to eliminate ‘roadblocks’ in the way of oil tycoons and their racketeers.

Now… after this Whitman’s sampler of FED lies you tell me why I should believe the FEDS about this shooter of Kirk that they’ve arrested.

Jon Harris should know better.

Addendum;

One more observations.

The Bagels are so good at political assassinations they have their own Wiki page recording how many assassinations they have succeeded at pulling off. I bet you no other country as a Wiki page dedicated to their proficiency at assassinating people.

FBI Discovered Tyler Robinson Note – It All Makes Sense Now

My Dearest Trannie Paramour – Kitten,

After shooting a larger than life world known celebrity I wanted to sit down and write you a Shakespearean sonnet. All the things pressing on my mind right now evaporate when I think about you. It may be true that everybody’s looking for me but not to worry sweet-pea  … I can afford 15 minutes of time to sit here and write you this essay. I mean what is love if you can’t take a few minutes to sit down and write your love interest in the context of a massive manhunt?

I wanted to take the knowledge of my committing this crime to my grave but since it’s just you and I talking here with no threat of anyone ever being able to dredge up this communication I thought I would give you every bit of information that the FEDS might need, if they discovered this, to convict me. I know how understanding you can be, what with your silly sexy pronouns.

With all this manhunt surrounding me the one thing I’m worried about is how mad Dad’s going to be for my losing Grandpa’s rifle. Grandpa loved his Mauser and Dad’s really going to be mad at me about leaving this .30-06 Mauser of Grandpa’s behind. I suppose Dad could be mad at me about this assassination trouble but I know he’s really going to be steamed about losing Grandpa’s rifle. You think Grandpa will ever forgive me?

Oh… did I mention that I left a palm print on the stock. Silly me. You know how forgetful I can be.

But I did remember to bring a couple changes of attire.

Well, I hope I got all this punctuation correct. You know how I hate grammar errors.

Anyway …. I want you to know I did this all for you sweet-pea.

Hugs & Kisses
XXXOOXO

Tyler Robinson

P. S. – Wouldn’t it be crazy if they tried to pin all this on the Bagels?

P. P. S. – I’m super worried about getting caught but it’s OK cause I’m going to turn myself in.

And Then An R2K Fan-Boy Showed Up In The Comments

Some chap named “Jackson Stead” showed up in the comments section to dispute my take on R2K. I’m always in for a good polemical go.

Jackson Stead wrote,

This critique (against R2K) misrepresents both the metaphysical and theological framework of Reformed Two Kingdom (R2K) doctrine.

1. Christ’s Kingship is Not Denied

R2K affirms Christus Rex. Christ rules all things, including the civil and ecclesial spheres. The distinction is not between realms of truth but of office: church and state are both under His providential kingship, but exercise different delegated authorities. The state bears the sword for justice; the church administers Word and sacrament for salvation. These are real, divinely ordained institutions with distinct final causes.

Bret responds;

1.) R2K DOES deny Christ’s Kingship by muting it for the common realm and placing it under a different sceptre. Christ does not rule explicitly in the common realm per R2K but only implicitly via Natural Law. This whole R2K conception of Natural Law has been disputed not only by us Presuppositionalists/Theonomists but also by the non-R2K natural law guys like Stephen Wolfe. So, both you chaps and the Wolfe chaps appeal to this obvious Natural Law but you cannot agree on the reading of this putatively obvious “Natural Law.” It seems Natural Law is not as obvious on this matter as you would like it to be and Christ’s ruling “by His left hand” in the common realm by Natural Law is quite up for dispute.

Of course the preferred understanding is that there is one Kingdom with different jurisdictions wherein we find Christ’s appointment as stewards over those differing respective jurisdictions. In such a way these realms are both independent and yet interdependent. Independent because they each have been assigned different roles and responsibilities (Church = grace [Keys]/ Civil Social = justice [sword] / Family = discipline [Rod]).

You’re reading and all Natural Law readings creates a Gnostic dualism. It ends up giving us a Gnostic Jesus ruling over a Gnostic Kingdom.

Jackson Stead wrote,

2. Preaching and the Limits of Office

The pulpit is the instrument of the Church’s office. It declares the gospel and moral law as illuminated by Scripture and natural reason. That includes denouncing injustice—but within its mode and end. The Church does not legislate, prosecute, or campaign. It witnesses. Confusing the offices—making the pulpit a political stump—usurps the state’s vocation and undermines the Church’s own.

Bret responds,

2.) The Keys are the instrument of the Church’s office. Via the Keys the Kingdom of God is opened and closed. Via the Keys Word and Sacrament are given to the end of building up the body of Christ. The whole idea of natural reason is a piece with Natural law. Natural reason is fallen and so only redeemed reason as considering the Word and the good and necessary consequences from the Word instructs and guides God’s people. The Church clearly has a role in speaking to the State as seen throughout Scripture. (John the Baptist denounced Herod for His crimes, Jesus called Herod “that Fox,” The proclamation that “there is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved” was a challenge to the Worldly authorities as the usual proclamation of Caesar was “there is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved” referring to Caesar.) Then there was the accusation against Jason and the Christians,

Acts 17:6 But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, named Jesus!”

You may not think that the Church should speak to Caesar but these chaps in Ephesus sure thought that was what was happening.

The Church does indeed not prosecute, except on those rare occasions when it has to practice interposition, but it does campaign for righteousness. This is something we read about during the run up to the War of American Independence with all those Reformed Pastors prosecuting in the Pulpits the injustice of the Crown against God’s Word. Of course, part of the Reformed clergy’s complaint at the time was the intent of the Crown to place a Anglican Bishop over the Colonies.

Your understanding empties the office of the Minister of his needed prophetic voice under sovereign Christ. You accuse me of confusing the offices. I accuse you of neutering the office.

Jackson Stead wrote,

3. Historic Examples Misapplied

Ambrose confronted Theodosius as bishop on moral grounds, not as a rival magistrate. Likewise, the Black Robed Regiment often overstepped. Charles Hodge, cited, explicitly distinguished the Church’s spiritual voice from civil action. His warning was about silencing moral witness, not collapsing jurisdictions.

Bret Responds,

3.) Historical examples were properly applied. You just don’t like the implications. The idea that Ambrose didn’t confront Theodosius as a rival magistrate is just ludicrous. Do you think anyone would have listened to Ambrose if he had not been wearing that Bishop vestment? In terms of Hodge maybe we should go w/ A. A. Hodge since you have misinterpreted Charles;

“Christianity should be recognized publicly by this country. Christ should be recognized in the law of our land as the Supreme Ruler of our nation. I am a member of a society striving for this end; the principle is right, whatever our success may be. We should insist that if the State has a right to educate she must not educate in infidel history and philosophy, but, in assuming the educator’s function, must obey the Scripture injunction regarding that function — to train the young in the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord.’”

A. A. Hodge (1823 – 1886)
19th Century American Reformed Theologian

Jackson Stead writes,

4. The Charge of Cowardice Is Baseless

The claim that R2K exists to “build large churches” is speculative and malicious. R2K theology arises from coherent metaphysics: natural ends, secondary causes, and the ordered distinction of powers. It is not pragmatism but principled realism grounded in classical Christian metaphysics and federal theology.

Bret responds,

4.) R2K is a completely novel way of reading Scripture not discovered and developed till Meredith Kline and his chief Romanist – Jesuit trained popularizer David Van Drunen. Van Drunen himself has admitted that it is a novel way of reading Scripture. Just go away. I’ve gone round and round with you poor souls so often that I can age myself in terms of the years I have been over this. If you guys aren’t cowards, you do a fine job of acting like cowards. R2K is coherent the way that Open Theism is coherent. R2K is coherent the way that men being born in women’s bodies is coherent. R2K is coherent the way that Vatican II Papists are coherent.

Finally, your metaphysics are not Christian in the least but are Gnostic and Dualistic. That explains why D. G. Hart (R2K aficionado par excellent) is always talking about living the “hyphenated-life.”

R2K is pure heresy.

Jackson Stead writes,

5. The Real Issue Is Providence and Ends

Civil authority is a temporal good, real and bounded. The Church’s end is eternal. R2K insists that while truth is one, offices are distinct. Denying this confuses grace with nature, eschatology with politics, and risks clerical overreach.

Bret Responds,

5.) No one denies offices are distinct. However, R2K does not make for distinctions but rather makes for divorce with it Gnostic Dualism. R2K is so worried about clerical over-reach that it touts clerical under-reach which is to say that R2K advocates for cowardice. It takes no courage at all to watch the broader culture burn all the while saying, “I am going to stay in my lane.”  It takes no courage at all to tell yourself that you won’t preach on the anti-Christ ideologies of the age because you want to remain holy and above it all. All the while those anti-Christ ideologies are swamping your people so that they reinterpret all of Scripture and all of life through those anti-Christ ideologies that you’re too pure to get involved with. You and your kind are destroying the Church in the West.

And don’t even get me started on your precious militant amillennial eschatology.

Jackson Stead writes,

Summary:

R2K is not cowardice, relativism, or heresy. It is a metaphysically coherent and confessionally grounded doctrine affirming that Christ rules all, but through distinct means. It guards the integrity of both church and state by preserving their God-ordained vocations.

Bret responds,

Dude … I wrote and had published a book on this subject. This is not my first rodeo. You guys are coherent the way that Open Theistis are coherent. You guys are coherent the way that II Vatican Papists are coherent. You guys are coherent the way that a guy who says he was born in a woman’s body are coherent. You are dualistic and Gnostic. Your dualism is seen in the R2K aficionado Dr. D. G. Hart’s love of the phrase, “living the hyphenated-life.” That just a pleasant way of saying that y’all are living the Dualist-life.

Confessionally grounded? LOL … you certainly can’t be serious. I suppose if you chaps are allowed to twist the confessions.

R2K is cowardice, relativism, and heresy. It is a dualistic gnostic soup that is metaphysically incoherent denying the explicit ruling of Jesus Christ over all as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

You chaps are so cowardly the only time you demonstrate any courage is when you are fighting for the position that the Church should be irrelevant. Should your false system ever win out it will be the destruction of both church and state.