Admonished not to degenerate from his ancestors

"Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set."-Proverbs 22:28  

"Calling to remembrance that unfeigned faith Not so much for the purpose of applauding as of exhorting Timothy, the Apostle commends both his own faith and that of his grandmother and mother; for, when one has begun well and valiantly, the progress he has made should encourage him to advance, and domestic examples are powerful excitements to urge him forward. Accordingly, he sets before him his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice by whom he had been educated from his infancy in such a manner that he might have sucked godliness along with his milk. By this godly education, therefore, Timothy is admonished not to degenerate from himself and from his ancestors."1-John Calvin

The culture around us

By Babel's streams we sat and wept...

Thinking about an earlier post on morality and courtship, one can easily grow very discouraged, we now live in virtual modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. It seems almost impossible to escape the evil and filth which is pushed at us every day. It seems as if fornication and every other kind of perversion has been normalized(see: 1 Corinthians 6:17) and marriage is degraded and destroyed. Sadly one comes to the realization separation is about only path available to those who want to live a decent and moral life in the times in which we live. R. J. Rushdoony said family is trust of "blood, rights, property, name... an inheritance from the past to be preserved and developed for the future." The culture around is at war with all of these things. And sadly most churches seem unwilling to fight to protect any of these things

As the late Paul M. Weyrich said:

While conservatives have won many political victories since the election of Ronald Reagan, the Left has continued to win the culture war. Unfortunately, culture is more powerful than politics. Conservatives have thus won tactically while losing strategically, with the consequence that American society has continued to decline into the abyss that opened before it in the 1960s.1

He also earlier pointed at the need to reject and separate ourselves from the vile culture around:

Cultural Marxism is succeeding in its war against our culture. The question becomes, if we are unable to escape the cultural disintegration that is gripping society, then what hope can we have? ...I am very concerned, as I go around the country and speak and talk to young people, when I find how much of the decadent culture they have absorbed without even understanding that they are a part of it... we need to drop out of this culture, and find places, even if it is where we physically are right now, where we can live godly, righteous and sober lives.2

A sadly all too true point from Miss Liberty:

In the younger generation depraved, perverted men lusting after a woman’s body convince her that they “love” her and they need to be together...The women do all in their power to attract the eyes of men. Flirting, exposing themselves, and aggrassive behavior they use to try to draw the lust of the opposite sex. Hoping to draw “love” they give of their most valuable posession...I gasped at the results. Broken hearted/mental children, unclaimed children, adulterers and adultresses and alas, even suicides.3

'Prettiness' gone the way of goodness:

The fact that standards of beauty have taken a sharp turn away from innocence and prettiness toward a kind of wantonness and sluttiness is evident when we look at pictures from the past compared to today's female celebrities and even average women on the street.

And so we are left living in Babylon, but we must make our homes, cultivate our gardens, and live our lives...

The Goblin Market

An 1859 poem about two sisters and some goblins. Follow the link below to read the poem.

The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

Evening by evening
Among the brookside rushes,
Laura bowed her head to hear,
Lizzie veiled her blushes:
Crouching close together
In the cooling weather,
With clasping arms and cautioning lips,
With tingling cheeks and finger-tips.
"Lie close," Laura said,
Pricking up her golden head:
"We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?"
"Come buy," call the goblins
Hobbling down the glen.
"O," cried Lizzie, "Laura, Laura,
You should not peep at goblin men."

We need to teach our daughters

"We need to teach our daughters to distinguish between a man who flatters her - and a man who compliments her. A man who spends money on her - and a man who invests in her. A man who views her as property - and a man who views her properly. A man who lusts after her - and a man who loves her. A man who believes he is God's gift to women - and a man who remembers a woman was God's gift to man... And then teach our boys to be that kind of a man."

Source: Teaching Our Sons and Daughters and Sign of the Times

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Biography

The Spurgeon Archive

Charles Spurgeon Quotes

Legalism?

I am starting to think "legalism" is becoming as bad as "sexism" or "racism." It seems to be an all purpose and meaningless insult by anyone who doesn't like moral standards. In theory opposing legalism shouldn't be antinomianism-the belief Christians have no moral obligations.

But after some reading I see I misunderstood it's meaning somewhat; "Legalism is alleged against any view that obedience to law, not faith in God's grace, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption." I always thought of legalism as forgetting the spirit and purpose of the law. Also often one thinks of legalism as tolerance of immorality on the grounds of convoluted argument. The fault of the Pharisees was not that they made rule rules to keep themselves holy, but that they made rules to excuse their unholiness, as John Owen (1616–1683) said; "These two principles, their own reputation and that of their sect, constituted the life and soul of Pharisaism of old."

In a perverse way this modern-day anti-"legalism" is becoming a form legalism in which people use to create convoluted arguments to justify their own selfishness. It seems many use such argument to get around the fifth commandment and it often does pave the way for antinomianism. I don't recall any place in the bible where it states eating nothing about eating nothing but candy and staying up till 1:00 a.m. are banned, but parents don't let their young children do such, is that "legalism" too? A rebellious daughter may accuse her parents of "legalism" if they require her to dress in a modest or traditional manner. This poisonous anti-"legalism" destroys tradition and morality.

On the other a child can be rebellious in legalistic way, following the letter of what his parents tell him, while doing things which they should know is wrong. This is a complex topic.

"Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."-Deuteronomy 5:16

"Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set."-Proverbs 22:28

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes -- our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth: tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death."-G. K. Chesterton

Telescopic Philanthropy

One of the memorable characters seen in Charles Dickens' many novels is Mrs. Jellyby. The "telescopic philanthropist" of "Bleak House" who obsessed with bettering an obscure African tribe but having little regard to her duties as wife and mother; or the notion of charity beginning at home. She spiritually abandons her family to work on philanthropic project to help people far away who she has never seen. The Borrioboola-Gha venture is in deepest darkest Africa, the project ends in a most gruesome manner when a local African chief attacks the project base and sells all the volunteers into slavery and then uses the money to acquire rum. Sadly Mrs. Jellyby leans nothing from this starts another philanthropic project.

Mrs. Jellyby seems to care little for her husband and children. Her oldest daughter is worked constantly on philanthropic projects and sits bitterly her ink-spattered dress sinking deeper into bitterness and cynicism. The younger children are left to fend for themselves. And her husband sinks into a suicidal despair. Her own family or for that matter poor of London are of little interest to her. Sadly forgetting that one's first duty is to your own kith and kin is still a problem today.

Proverbs 31

"The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil... She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life...She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens... She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy... She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness... Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her."

Titus 2

"...teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

The Code of Chivalry

Knights Code of Chivalry

To fear God and maintain His Church
To serve the liege lord in valour and faith
To protect the weak and defenceless
To give succour to widows and orphans
To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
To live by honour and for glory
To despise pecuniary reward
To fight for the welfare of all
To obey those placed in authority
To guard the honour of fellow knights
To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
To keep faith
At all times to speak the truth
To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
To respect the honour of women
Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
Never to turn the back upon a foe

More on morality and courtship

More on morality and courtship...

From the Thinking Housewife:

Laura: The (degenerate) way to arrange a marriage today is to make sure your children go to the right college or private school. It’s important for daughters to get into top jobs for marital reasons too. It is a way of meeting men when traditional forms of matchmaking no longer exist. This system involves years of pre-marital debauchery...


Laura is correct that for many young people today, they are, with their parents’ blessing no less, released into a lifestyle of promiscuity and debauchery as some twisted preparation for married life... I am shocked that so many Christians e have such a laissez faire approach to their sons’ and daughters’ future, as if it will not affect them at all. Of course it will! The stated goal of modern parenting, that children be “happy” is the key ingredient of the disgusting recipe we have created as a society.1

Girls, Be Wary!

Over the years I have discovered that it is much easier to identify sexually active girls than it is boys. As one priest - referring to girls - put it: "Premarital sex drains the soul right out of them." This is not to suggest that premarital sexual activity causes little damage to a boy's character. Nothing could be further from the truth. But one more readily sees the depletion in the woman's countenance. A girl simply has more to lose, which is why when she does lose it, the loss is more manifest in her gaze.

Romances with Wolves

There's a saying that goes, "The best plan is to profit by the folly of others." That's what this article is about. I want to share with you a few things I've learned -- the hard way -- concerning girls, sex, love and relationships. Specifically, I've jotted down ten reasons why I'm now waiting until marriage to have sex.

On relate note: "Has College become a Moloch Cult" and "Venereal diseases now the main cause of infertility"

The Sacred Trust of Family

The Duties of Husband and Wife

So much for their duties that be further off from equality in the family, as parents and children, masters and servants. Now those that are more equal are husband and wife, whose duties are either common to both, or more particular to either of them. The common duties. First, they must love one another with a pure heart, fervently. This duty both husband and wife must perform mutually one to another, which that they may the better strive for, let us consider of some excellent commodities that will proceed from this love. First, this benefit will certainly ensue: if there be fervent, and dear, and matrimonial love betwixt themselves, it will preserve and guard them from all unchaste actions and strange lusts, as appeareth, Prov. 5:19-20.

A godly form of household government for the ordering of private families, according to the direction of Gods word

Therefore at the beginning of their marriage, the wise and discret husband ought to use all good meanes to winne the good liking of his wife towards him: for if then their love be fixed, and truely setled one towards the other, although afterwards they come to some houshold words and grudgings, yet it proceedeth but of some new unkindnesse, and not of old rooted hatred; and therefore the sooner remedied. For love and hatred be mortall enemies, and the first of them that taketh place in the heart, there it remaineth a dweller, for the most part, all the dayes of life: in such wise, that the first love may depart from the person, but yet it will never be forgotten at the heart. But if the wife from the beginning of marriage, do take the heart to loath and abhorre her husband, then a miserable life wil follow to them both.-John Dod & Robert Cleaver

What is the Biblical Trustee Family?

The trustee family has the most power and scope. It is called the trustee family because its living members see themselves as trustees of the family blood, rights, property, name, and position for their lifetime. They have an inheritance from the past to be preserved and developed for the future. The trustee family is the basic social power … The head of the family is not the head in any personal sense but as family head and as a trustee of powers.-R. J. Rushdoony

Anti-Feminism Yes; Misogyny No...

I am bit disturbed by the some of the material I have seen on some sites and blogs, many of them claiming to be conservative. The seeming excusing of mistreatment of women by men and linking to some truly horrible and immoral female bashing websites by people who claim to be conservative Christians is most disturbing. Any man who abuses a young woman deserves a very strong punishment. Yes many woman act like harlots, but a decent man avoids such women. The solution to these problems is the restoration of morality, parental authority, and the courtship ritual. The violation of a young woman is a crime against her and her family which needs to be dealt with in the strongest possible way. Sadly sometimes even the "Feminists" can be right on a few topics, even if they are for the most part poisonous and evil.

Has College become a Moloch Cult...

I do have to wonder if college is becoming a Moloch Cult, especially in the case of young women. What do parents get from it other than having their children debauched, then move far way and not give them grandchildren. Sadly one will find very little like John Henry Newman's "Idea of a University" in a modern University; in many cases one finds little of educational value. Look at the student newspaper at most universities one will find articles on sex, rape, and perversion; and advertisements for bars, abortion, and pornography. Dormitories are dirty poorly-run cesspools, where debauchery is encouraged. Even "Christian" colleges most of the time seem unwilling to stand for morality. At what point do parents say no? I don't know the answer to this problem, but the general culture is evil. I am not necessarily saying young people should not go to college, but sometimes needs to be done...

On a related note see this article at the Ladies Against Feminism site, while the article is about young women, but much of it applies to young men as well.
Letters on College, the Workplace, etc

Is this what college does for young people...

A very depressing story from the Thinking Housewife "Emmie’s Adventure" and "Emmie’s Future" (Not for young readers)

And yikes...

Down the Ivy-Covered Lane

Should homeschooling parents send their children away to college? I am not completely sure of the answer to this question. But what I have seen of the "public school system" and colleges, has left me with a feeling it might be better to keep child out of school altogether. I recall a few years ago Maggie Gallagher asked has the time come for "home colleging." The Internet, CLEP exams and other leaning options may provide a workable compromise.

College From Home

Also see: Venereal diseases now the main cause of infertility.

Venereal diseases now the main cause of infertility

Sorry for the nasty topic, but it is important. Infertility treatment is a growth area for Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Sadly in many cases there is not a lot that can be done for these young woman. Something everyone needs to tell their young daughter...

From the Thinking Housewife blog:

Sexual promiscuity is a massive cause of infertility and preventable if people were to abstain from sex until marriage but this message is never advised by experts... The sexual revolution was truly a disaster for women and men and the whole of Western society. Never in the history of the West have sexually transmitted diseases been so rife or so destructive. Never have so many people attended infertility clinics and embarked on various fertility treatments. This is the real disaster and this really has to be addressed...

There are loads of young women with destroyed pelvic organs. They will never conceive...1

1 Corinthians 6:17

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Also see: Has College become a Moloch Cult...

A Favorite Psalm...

Psalm 1

BLESSED is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners : and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.
2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord : and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.
3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the water-side : that will bring forth his fruit in due season.
4. His leaf also shall not wither : and look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
5. As for the ungodly, it is not so with them : but they are like the chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth.
6. Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judgement : neither the sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
7. But the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous : and the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Doll Commercials: Yesterday and Today....

And we wonder what why young women fall into moral degeneracy....

Mattel Chatty Cathy TV Commercial 1963 (dead)



Update: Well, that link is dead here one that works: Mattel Chatty Cathy TV Commercial 1963


Bratz Girlz Really Rock Dolls Commercial



Note: I am not endorsing the first toy just making social comment on the commercial.

December 2, 2009

Some posts on other blogs worth reading.

Learning From the Past

And

Proverbs 31 Illustrated

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life... Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her...

Film: "The Cult of Domesticity"

Film: "The Cult of Domesticity"

I don't see a problem... even the film admits woman still want to make a home and protect and nurture their families.

"The Victorian Reward: Simple Love, and Marriage with God"

"The Victorian Reward — Simple Love, and Marriage with God, for a Christian Life of Toil" by William R. Terpening

The Pickwick Papers, Jane Eyre, and North and South, each conclude with a wedding, or a pledge of love, which contains the promise of a tranquil experience for the remainder of the protagonist's lives. The theme communicated by this example is that, after a life of testing through hardship and trial, people who led "Christian" lives-- lives marked by good, charitable, and industrious behavior-- would be rewarded by enjoying later years in which they were surrounded by friends and peace. The context for this idealistic view grew out of nineteenth-century Evangelical Christian ideals...

Kindergarten 1898

Kindergarten 1898

Click on image to get a better view.

"Home Living" a great blog

A great blog:

Home Living by LadyLydiaSpeaks

Her most recent post is a list of some her best articles: Most Requested Posts