LIVING IN FEAR

MIKE BELL has a post this morning focused on people's need to wear a mask during the pandemic. I'm a polite guy so I do wear a mask ONLY while in a store however. While they are not a cure, possibly they slow the spread of "Winnie the Flu." So I went and chatted briefly with my neighbor "Mikey" yesterday; he's 65 and takes auto-immune suppressants. I asked him what he's doing to protect himself. He said he's basically carrying on like normal. He goes to the store [ he's married, has a wife that would gladly go to the store for him] eats out and travels around - he has an R.V. I asked him if he was worried he said no. Either it gets him or it doesn't he's had a good ride and he refused to live in fear.

JERRY FALWELL

I certainly don't know the truth of the situation but the optics are terrible [ implied is a sexual encounter between Jerry and a young lady. ] Kudos to Liberty for acting swiftly.

Is Internetmonk aging out?

I, of course, don't see the stats but I do see the commenters; pretty much the same old same old. I think that is the natural trajectory of blogs. First, they're new and exciting but sooner or later the reasons for their existence, their narrative if you will, grows old. And the commenters become part of a recognisable but aging group. # So, is Internetmonk attracting the millenials? I kinda doubt it; here's why. # The millenials have no memory/experience of the fundamentalists. A lot of the commenters on I-monk are in their 70s and many times, reading their comments, they are confusing the old fundamentalists with modern Evangelicals. There is simply a huge difference. I doubt there are many millenials who have ever experienced a sermon that references the dangers of Hell. I will tell you, as one who continues to be a part of an Evangelical congregation; Hell simply is not a regular topic in Evangelical churches and hasn't been for at least 3 decades. # One of the aging commenters has been obsessed with Hal Lindsay's teaching from the 60's and 70's. He's also obsessed with Chuck Smith, long deceased. Millenials probably have no idea who these men are or what they are known for. He, quite mistakenly, thinks these men are still influential in Evangelical circles. They are not. He has set up a straw man for him to attack. It's been old for a long time. # Chaplain Mike and the boys are all aging also. My guess, all of them are at least 50. In case you haven't noticed, the Millenials have zero interest in the thinking of 50 year old Caucasian males. # My guess, as Imonk ages out and as we age, it becomes even less influential.

MICHAEL SPENCER - CREATED A BLOG THAT LEADS TO DESPAIR

In the early years, Michael Spencer's blog still held to some of the orthodox fundamentals but he was in the process of turning away from the clear teachings and readings of Scripture. Phil Johnson and Dan Phillips would point out the obvious flaws in his increasingly idiosyncratic interpretations of Scripture; contrary to what Scripture actually said. Johnson and Phillips were not mean, they just pointed out, very clearly, where he was going wrong. At one time he got so upset I sent e-mails to Johnson and Phillips telling them I thought he was coming apart emotionally and psychologically and they should be very careful in their pushback against a psychologically fragile man. Then some years ago now, Michael got cancer and died. Commenters became writers and it has evolved with "Chaplain Mike" apparently in charge. My take; Chaplain Mike holds the reins loosely and all the authors have rejected orthodox Biblical interpretions. My guess would be; most of the readership are now "nones," no longer a regular particpant with a local congregation. Anyhow, Chaplain Mike will post and old writing of Michael Spencer's. You know what? They are not inspiring. In a not so funny way, Internetmonk is a depressing blog. Just read the comments; negativity, anger and bitterness tend to be on display as they attack those who do not agree with the politically liberal and progressive religiosity of Internetmonk. Internetmonk is not a happy place.

A PRIORI: God is perfect and unchanging.

Conservative Evangelicalism is of all things the Most Logical.

Creator God knew before He made humanity what humanity would be like.  He knew male and female before he brought Adam and Eve,  real flesh and blood humans, into existence.  There are not a lot of Adams and Eves, there were only the two and out of their relationship, all humanity exists.

They had only one "Thou shalt not"  only one.  They gave into their desire and humanity was broken from then on; would ultimately need a blood sacrifice for sinful man to be in a relationship with a holy and sinless God.  The blood sacrifice was God himself in A.D. 1.

The principles for Godly living have not changed in the millennia of humanity.

God, being most logical and just, over time gave us His Word, both in His Son and in the written Word.  He did not dictate it but His Spirit oversaw the ultimate creation;  from Genesis to the Revelation.

Because God is Perfect,  Scripture does not require an upgrade.  It said EXACTLY what God wanted it to say in the autographs.  We do not have the autographs but people underestimate the millions of hours theologians have put into making sure the very words of the autographs are truly with us.

It is totally illogical to think a perfect God needs to make an upgrade.

Conservative Evangelicals view life thru the prism of Scripture. It is the anchor that never changes; though sometimes our understanding may change.  BUT,  words have meaning.  As logical as it gets.  If Holy Scripture says, "Thou shalt not,"  then thou best not.  It's not going to change to God saying, I've changed my mind; go ahead.

Non conservative religionists view Scripture thru the prism of the current culture; which is the most illogical thing ever.  What is current today will be passé in a very few years; maybe tomorrow.  They are always denying the reality of "Thou shalt not."  For Non conservatives; this is dependent upon changing the obvious meaning of simple words.   That is illogical.

INTERNETMONK'S DOWNWARDS TRAJECTORY; [ of course ]

INTERNETMONK used to pride itself as being "post Evangelical" but they have clearly moved further left.  Now they are post Christian.

How do I know that?  They have added to their stable of writers, "Klaise" who has declared himself to be post Christian.

Current discussions revolve around Universalism; the belief that Manson, Mao, Lenin, Stalin and Beria will all be, ultimately, welcomed to Heaven.

Scratch an I-monker and you find a Universalist.  Like the mainline; the Unitarian church is moribund; been dying for a long time.  I-monkers apparently feel that it's progress to leave Evangelicalism for  either the dying Mainline Churches or for or the beliefs of the Unitarian Church.
____________

FYI

"But I think I hear noises of the death of Unitarian Universalism which others don’t seem to hear. And those noises disturb for me a music of the spheres that I don’t think others hear either. So I will proceed with what you may decide was, after all, too little humility, in trying to describe to you both the noises I hear, and also the music.

The movement which many call "Unitarian Universalism" has been dying for 43 years, continues to die, and the fact of its slow but steady death is the elephant in the room that few in the UUA want to face, let alone talk about.
Between 1970 and 2000, the UUA lost over 12,000 adult members in real numbers. But during those thirty years, while the UUA’s adult membership declined by more than 7%, the population of the U.S. increased by over 37%. In other words, when compared with the population of the U.S., the adult membership of the UUA has declined by more than 44% since 1970. Our numbers are now about what they were at merger in 1961, while the rest of the country has grown by nearly half. If we had simply kept up with the population growth, we would have more than 225,000 adult members now. There is no way to pretend that these facts paint a picture of growth.2"

Hmm, maybe it's time to post once again

The reality; I've become bored of Wartburgwatch.  It's actually the same old same old.  There are apparently sinners at Evangelical churches and these sinners need to be thrown out of the church.

I've become bored with Internetmonk.  It's a politically liberal blog with a faint patina of religiosity.  Their agenda;  labeling Evangelicals as the curse of all that is righteous and good.  They do this by negating the words of Scripture.

Their narrative
If you were truly bright, you'd be a progressive Democrat.
They have one commenter I've come to appreciate:  Robert F.  While he's satisfactorily liberal; he's not always in lock-step with the other liberals.

Well that's enough for now;