Psalm 75

is the third psalm in Book III of the Psalter. In Book III's introduction, Psalm 73, Asaph takes comfort from remembering the Lord's justice, saying he will "tell of all [God's] works" (Psalm 73:28). Psalm 75 returns to the theme of justice and judgment on the wicked, and so Psalm 75:9 echoes Psalm 73:28 when Asaph says "I will declare [the Lord's judgment] forever."

No exit?

Mrs. Curmudgeon has two friends from two entirely separate circles (and neither circle is the congregation which I serve), two friends who have only Mrs. Curmudgeon in common and have not, so far as we know, ever met. These two women are members of two different Churches, from entirely separate ecclesiastical traditions. However, both of their families are very unhappy with the respective congregations in which they are enrolled. In both cases, the issues are varied, and while none quite rise to the level of doctrinal error, they are enough to produce great unhappiness and little discernible Spiritual growth.

These families have one striking similarity: in each, it looked like the husband would receive a temporary assignment out of state, and both couples saw this as their best chance to escape their respective congregations.

If that's not a sign, I don't know what is.

Look, I'm a high-Church presbyterian: as a clerk of session, I take Church membership rolls extremely seriously, and frown on anything which looks like Church-hopping. But people, if one of your biggest reasons to move to another state is the opportunity to worship elsewhere, you're not a Church member. You're a hostage.

I've argued before that Church membership vows do not bind a believer to a particular congregation for the rest of one's natural life, so I don't intend to retread that ground here. Here, I just want to say that if you're that unhappy, you should leave. Soon. Have a conversation with the pastor and elders, explain what your concerns are (of course, you've probably already done this a dozen times), then leave. Speaking for myself, if there's anyone in my congregation who finds our fellowship so aggravating, I have no desire to force him to keep worshiping with us. Perhaps he'll do better elsewhere; who am I to complain if he does (1 Corinthians 3:4-9)?

If the fire marshal is completing his inspections on a regular basis, there should be clearly marked exits from your congregation's sanctuary. Feel free to use them.

A spelling dilemna

For the first couple decades or so of my life, I spelled it "dilemna," then felt foolish when I learned the proper spelling is "dilemma." As this website documents, however, I was far from alone: countless multitudes of English spellers around the world labor under the same misapprehension, and all for no good reason that anyone can figure out.

I can't decide if all the company should make me feel better, or if this is an example of the gross ignorance of crowds (as opposed to the wisdom of crowds).

I was alerted to said website by the excellent podcast of the Canadian Broadcasting Company radio show, Wiretap. Even though I listen to it every week, I find myself unable to turn off the universal American superpower of "Caydar:" as soon as I hear a Canadian accent, I am compelled to say to the nearest bystander, "That's a Canadian."

Because if you hear something, you should tell someone.

An indispensable podcast

I stopped acquiring audiobooks because of the inordinately large number of podcasts to which I subscribe: while I listen to an hour or more a day whilst doing chores or working out (anything to distract myself from the misery of physical exertion), I can find myself two or more weeks behind their release dates. However, so many podcasts went into reruns or hiatus at last year's end that, come Christmas, my podcast playlist almost dwindled down to nothing.

Almost.

That was when Russ Robert's Econtalk (my second-favorite podcast after The New Yorker's fiction podcast [because I love the short story and appreciate hearing intelligent readers discuss them]) did a joint episode with Tony Gill's Research on Religion, a weekly discussion on the social scientific study of religion. For anyone with any level of interest in the role of religion in our culture or in how religions (and in practice, Christian Churches) function as social organizations, it's a terrific resource. In my opinion, it's indispensable for pastors and Church leaders given the ever-changing, and evermore forgetful of the First Amendment's free exercise clause, legal landscape: for example, this week's episode on religious property cases coming before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Not every episode is equally indispensable; I felt no compunction over skipping the one on Roman Catholic saints, for instance. That, however, is a fairly high mark: one has to check out each installment for fear of missing something absolutely necessary. If you subscribe to podcasts, add this one to your list.

Regarding the Puritans

In any given assembly of confessional presbyterian pastors, I am sure to stand out not only because of my wit, charm, and remarkable good looks, but also because of my general skepticism toward "the Puritans." The Christian rapper Propaganda recently raised quite a ruckus with his Precious Puritans, which is useful, if for nothing else, for pointing out that the Puritans themselves may not have been as impeccable as their Savior. Puritanism was an ism: that is, not a Church or a denomination or even an ecclesiastical organization, but an assortment of attitudes and ideas expressed by any number of protestants throughout the British Isles. As an ism, Puritanism is a general classification of mood and temperament, but in practice is no more specific than today's "evangelicalism," a noun which is so vague as to include Baptists and presbyterians and hard-shell Calvinists and skeptics of the doctrine of hell.

In the April issue of Ordained Servant, William B. Kessler has a review of A Puritan Theology which gets at the heart of my discomfort with puritanolatry. Kessler has no beef with the Puritans themselves, but notes they existed in a particular historical circumstance, some several centuries ago, and we exist in a different one, today. Exactly so. 

Let the reader note I spent years outlining Jonathan Edwards sermons, which should prove I have a generous attitude toward puritanism. However, I recognize the Puritans lived and ministered in a different time and place than I do, and dealt with concerns peculiar to their day, not mine. If I meet a layperson who tells me he reads lots of Puritan literature, I can be sure said layperson struggles with assurance of salvation. This is because Puritans pastors ministered in a cultural and ecclesiastical context of massive presumption, in which many who were dead in their sins felt confident of God's good graces because they happened to have been born into a Christian family. Accordingly, Puritan preachers tended to hit presumption of salvation hard. In our day, the Christian with a sensitive conscience who reads Puritan sermons without knowledge of their historical context will often decide he must be very, very hard of heart and lose all sense of assurance of salvation. It's a sure course for spiritual shipwreck.

Read the Puritans of old if you must, but if you want to know what modern Puritanism sounds like, it's the preaching of Jay Adams and the teaching of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. They don't have buckles on their shoes, but they do apply the Bible to all of life. And with smaller words, to boot.