Here is a sampling of some music I have recently posted on my Facebook account. If you're not on FB or not my friend yet, join up already!
In preparation for Reformation Day in about a month, I am compiling a list of Reformation-era and Reformation-influenced composers and works. Handel's Messiah oratorio has to be near the top of the list, and here is the beautiful Overture. Many will recognize this as the theme song of a popular Reformed Christian radio program.
I posted this in honor of my friend Eric T. Young who daily inspires a love of great classical music within his FB friends.
Glory to God in the highest! Listen to this remarkable performance of Bach's masterpiece.
A truly brilliant and beautiful piano concerto by one of the marvelous composers of the Classical era.
A fun tune by some Tennessee friends!
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Nineteenth-Century Russian composer and member of "the Five" (a.k.a., "The Mighty Handful"), which also included Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin. These nationalist composers created a distinct and unique Russian style. Here is a majestic portion of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. You will probably recognize the theme, which is very regal. Mussorgsky wrote the entire ten-movement suite for piano, and other composers like Ravel arranged orchestration for the composition.
Vivaldi's Summer, 3rd mvt. (Presto). The video is quite "eighties-ish," if I can say that, but the performance is of remarkably high quality. I especially like the double-stops in this song starting at 1:24. A gem from the baroque Venetian!
This is my favorite of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. A faithful Christian, J.S. Bach appended S.D.G. to his works, which stands for the Reformational theme, Soli Deo Gloria -- "To God alone be the glory!" My friend Robert tells me Bach also included Jesu Juva, means "Help Me Jesus."
Felix Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony No. 5, Op. 107, mvt. 3. You should immediately recognize the theme of this beautiful symphonic composition written in 1832 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Luther's Augsburg Confession of Faith.
Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises early in life adopted this motto, translated from the Latin phrase above: "Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it." Today, we remember Mises' principled defense of liberty in the 20th Century against the encroachments of Marxist/Hegelian statism: its welfarism, warfarism, usurpations of power, and attacks on the institutions of the family, church, free markets, business, and civilized society.
Mises' legacy survives in part through the work of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and the website of its founder, Lew Rockwell. I have personally been impacted greatly by the scholarship of R.J. Rushdoony, Gary North, and others within a movement of Christian reformation for the 21st Century. Although endeavoring to build their intellectual endeavors self-consciously and presuppositionally on the foundation of Scripture, these men credited Mises and his Austrian School adherents with supplying needed and useful scholarship in free market, anti-statist economic theory.
Ron Paul's movement to END THE FED is grounded self-consciously in the scholarship of the Austrian School, of which Mises is the unrivaled father. Mises' disciple Murray Rothbard, followed by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Walter Block, and others of recent times, have steered the "Rothbardian" wing of the Austrian School (represented by the Mises Institute website) into full-fledged anarcho-capitalism. Nonetheless, Mises himself was not an anarchist and believed in a limited role for the civil government. His "Austrian School of Economics" followers, whether anarchist or "minarchist," stand unrivaled among economists as the only adherents to sound money and the abolition of counterfeiting, statist central banks, represented in our country by the FED.
We can be grateful for a principled defender of economic and political liberty against statism. May we self-consciously advance Mises' motto and example of proceeding boldly against evil. For Christians, evil is defined by Scripture as anything that challenges the supremacy and Lordship of Christ Jesus over all areas of life and thought. (See, for example, II Cor. 10:5 and Eph. 6:12.) We have a common enemy with Mises and the Austrian School in the idolatrous, power-usurping welfare-warfare state. We must rise up, not with carnal weapons, but with the mighty weapons of truth in our words and deeds.
L-R: Caleb Hayden, Tim Horn, Peter Bradrick, Nathaniel Darnell, and Nathanael Cordz.
Patriarchy in action: Peter digs a resting spot for his bride.
This was the end result after fortifications were added to protect Kelly and the lads against the onslaught of crashing waves.
A self-portrait. Peter holds his sons against the backdrop of mighty ocean waves. We had wonderful fellowship and discussion on a variety of topics. And thanks to Kelly for the great food! I am always encouraged and challenged through time spent with like-minded friends and brothers in Christ. Praise the Lord for fellowship, unity in Christ, and brotherly exhortation!
The worst thing that can happen to a preacher or a church is to be thought "civilized" and "respectable." There is no power in this. We are strangers and pilgrims, awkward, with no home here. Ours is a city whose builder and maker is God. We must strip away the faulty dress of the modern "Gospel," preaching the bare bones of the TRUE Gospel that is nothing short of scandalous in the world. But in this is power! (Paraphrase of Paul Washer -- take a listen.)
I'm really excited about the upcoming Sufficiency of Scripture conference that will focus on practical applications of God's Word for family and church. Speakers include Scott Brown, Ken Ham, Doug Phillips, Kevin Swanson, Paul Washer, Voddie Baucham, Joe Morecraft, and Andy Davis.
Lord willing, I am hoping and praying for an opportunity to attend. Please let me know if you might attend -- it would be great to meet up with like-minded friends in Cincinnati for the conference December 10-12.
Was the American War for Independence Biblically Justified and Lawful?
I have recently been in a discussion about the legality of the American War for Independence, specifically whether the Colonists and Founders violated God's Law in warring against the king's invading armies. For some helpful insights, I am posting the following excerpt from The United States: A Christian Republic, by R.J. Rushdoony:
The American colonies were all Christian republics. They were, first of all, free and independent states, self-governing republics. There were never a part of England, whatever the school textbooks may say. Each colony began its existence with a charter or constitution, created by its own governmental bodies, and had no relationship to the mother country, England, except that they shared a king in common, and the king was a feudal, contractual monarch over the colonies.
There were mutual obligations between king and people. The royal governor represented the king, the freely elected legislators represented the people. Each colony could issue its own money, an obvious sign of an independent country. The trouble between king and people came in two ways. First, the English kings claimed divine rights and the absolute power of rule, and, after 1688, the English Parliament claimed this right for itself. After the French and Indian War, Parliament, a foreign government, took over the king's power in America, and then it tried to usurp the powers of the American legislatures and the American peoples. Parliament had no legal relationship to the Colonies except in imperial matters, none with respect to the internal affairs of these American states.
Parliament invaded the American colonies in three ways: first, it tried to take over their internal affairs by taxing and governing them; second, it quartered troops on them when they resisted this invasion; third, it declared war on them and a full-scale invasion of America. The American states then declared their independence of King George III for violating his contractual kingship. They did not declare their independence of Parliament because they had never been subjects of the English Parliament or of England. The Declaration of Independence was directed against King George III and cited the reasons why his relationship to America had been rendered null and void by his own actions. The Declaration plainly stated: "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES." Thus, the American states asserted that their independence dated from their first settlement: they had never been subjects of England; they had been his majesty's loyal subjects until King George himself destroyed the constitution and rendered it null and void.
All of the American colonies being Christian republics bring us to the other great reason for the War of Independence, a war to maintain independence against invasion. John Adams declared that, "as much as any other cause," the American resistance to Parliament was aroused by the projected attempt of Parliament to force bishops onto the colonies. Adams wrote in a letter to Dr. Jedediah Morse, December 2, 1815, that, "The objection was not merely to the office of a bishop, though even that was dreaded, but to the authority of Parliament, on which it must be founded" (John Adams, Works, vol. 10, 1865 edition, 185). Each American state had its own religious settlement; none of them wanted an outside government to force a religious establishment on them. They wanted the freedom to be Christian republics according to their own Biblical beliefs. Every state, when the Constitution was adopted, was a Christian republic. Nine of the thirteen had one or more established churches. Christianity as a religion, rather than a particular church, was the established faith of the other states.
In Rushdoony's This Independent Republic he deals further and much deeper with legality, interposition, the Founders' view of covenantal civil government, and more. Especially insightful is his analysis of the antithesis between the American "conservative counter-revolution" grounded in a biblical understanding, as against the Enlightenment-grounded French Revolution. I highly recommend This Independent Republic, especially chapters 3 and 10.
Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve by the Mises Institute
I posted this video earlier in the year, but it is more relevant now than ever. My college economics teacher showed it to the class and taught us the truth about the Fed. That was long before the housing bubble, the credit crisis, and our current economic woes. Watch the video to educate yourself, and consider Congressman Ron Paul's new book on the subject, END THE FED.
Israel Wayne provides a Christian perspective on Obama's upcoming speech tomorrow, and gratefully his commentary is devoid of the typical shallow nonsense that passes for "conservatism" nowadays. How many Christians who routinely send their children to statist indoctrination centers have gotten up in arms because "father Obama" is trying to speak to their children for a few minutes tomorrow? Were they upset when Bush and Reagan addressed schoolchildren? More importantly, are they unaware that training and discipling their children in the fear of the Lord is antithetical to entrusting them to the caring arms of Caesar?
My guess is that September 8th will only be blip on the radar screen of life unless parents everywhere heed the call to take complete responsibility for educating their children. The schools don’t care if you keep your children home for a day. In fact, they probably prefer it! They get paid whether your children show up or not! On the other hand, if your children stay home for say…A YEAR…or 12…then they get worried. Suppose that you had two children whom you homeschooled for 12 years. You just cost the government $1,267,200 in revenue. Keeping your child home for a day just makes the government happy. Keeping them home throughout their childhood and giving them a Biblical worldview…makes them VERY, VERY NERVOUS!
Is the end of all being the happiness of man or the glory of God?
Humanism declares that the end of all being is the happiness of man. Christianity affirms that the end of all being is the glory of God. Humanistic presuppositions have crept into ostensibly "Christian" teaching, as Paris Reidhead declares in his famous sermon, Ten Shekels and a Shirt: "The liberal says the end of religion is to make man happy while he's alive. And the fundamentalist says the end of religion is to make man happy when he dies."
Listen to these highlights from one of the great sermons of the 20th century.
And then listen to the entire sermon (if you only have time for one, listen to part 6 -- only 2 minutes):
"May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering."
"Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory ... Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." ~Is. 6:3, Rev. 4:8
Our triune, eternal, glorious God is thrice-holy. He is transcendent over His creation, and He is absolutely set apart from wickedness. His name alone is worthy of our praise, and we should worship, praise, and fear Him for this attribute. We are to be separated from wickedness and set apart unto our holy God.
"There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God" (II Sam. 2:2).
"To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One" (Is. 40:25).
"Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness" (Ps. 30:4).
"Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness" (Ps. 97:12).
"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest" (Rev. 15:4).
"And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine" (Lev. 20:26).
"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (I Pet. 1:15-16).
"The greatest heresy in the American evangelical ... church is that if you pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart, He will definitely come in. You will not find that in any place in Scripture. ... Salvation is by faith ... alone in Jesus Christ. And faith in Jesus Christ is proceeded ... by repentance -- a turning away from sin, a hatred for the things God hates and a love for the things that God loves." ~Paul Washer, Christian missionary and preacher
Masculine Christianity
"We will dare to trust our God. We will venture our all for Him...[with] masculine holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ...accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered, Holy Ghost religion...[where] only Christ and Him crucified [are worshiped and preached]...with reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches." ~C.T. Studd, British cricketer and missionary
Gathering to Watch Parts 4-6 of Marshall Foster's "From Terror to Triumph"
I mentioned in a previous post that our family recently hosted a group of men and young men for learning and discussion. We also enjoyed some great fellowship and treats, thanks to Mom and my sisters. Our evening centered on Dr. Marshall Foster's teaching regarding Christendom and the medieval era (600-1400 A.D.) and the "divine right of kings" era (1400-1650 A.D.).
We had fifteen men and young men (one had to leave early and is not pictured), in addition to my Father, my two brothers, and myself. How enjoyable it was to host this many brothers in Christ for learning, discussion, fellowship, and treats.
Although I neglected to point this out during our discussion, it is relevant to note that "...Christian histiography termed everything outside of Christ 'the dark ages.' Petrarch ... [called] the thousand years of Christianity by that title. ... [But] the dark ages of history are ... the non-Christian eras and areas, because Jesus Christ is the light of the world" (R.J. Rushdoony, The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum, pp. 40, 42, emphasis mine). Dr. Foster's outlook on history has been substantially consistent with this observation by Rushdoony.
Here are some notes from one of Dr. Foster's lectures. Lord willing, in the near future I hope to post notes and observations from the other two lectures we watched and discussed.
Session 4 -- BARBARIANS AND BIOTERRORISTS (600 - 1400 A.D.)
Within 300 years of the fall of Rome, most of Europe had been converted to Christ. God transformed ancient pagan cultures into civilizations. Even so, the faith was young, weak, and under attack.
There were three primary challenges during this era: attacks from the outside, corruption within, and the plague.
In 610 A.D. an Arab warrior named Mohammad created a new religion and eventually summoned his followers to jihad or holy war. They took Jerusalem in 638 A.D., and the next centuries of Muslim history were bloody. The Mid-East had been Christian, as had been North Africa and the regions of the Roman Empire, but 70% of this territory was eaten up through Mohammedan domination and terror. Dr. George Grant points out that not one nation was ever voluntarily converted to Islam. Winston Churchill made some very pointed comments about Islam. The Muslims marched their way through North Africa and Spain, and they took half of France. They raped and pillaged their way through the Roman Empire and even forced the Pope to pay a bribe.
The second external force of opposition were the Vikings. The Norsemen worshiped false deities and terrorized Europeans for centuries. For some time, churches were only built within castles to guard against Viking raids. As with all other pagan cultures, the Vikings propagated the five deadly sins of paganism. Tyranny was a way of life, and they practiced barbarous rituals of human abuse and sacrifice when their rulers died. They glorified violence with their warriors and "berserkers," took slaves and concubines in war, and plundered their way all the way to Egypt with their longboats as they came to dominate three-fourths of England in time.
Another challenge was internal corruption of the church. Centralization in Rome created more problems than any external threat. Theology is the foundation of everything else, and we must understand God and correct doctrine. The easiest way to lose this is to corrupt the church leaders. Although the Roman Catholics made some helpful contributions -- helping to oversee major church councils, sending out missionaries, copying Scripture and promoting education in monasteries, doing works of charity to hold medieval life together, and creating great religious art and architecture -- the Roman bishops started aggrandizing more power to themselves. Gregory was the last bishop who did not view himself as a universal pope. Salvation by grace through faith was mixed with merit, and the church would decide who had enough merit. Family patriarchy and strong local churches of the early church gave way to passive men who cloistered themselves away from the world.
The final challenge during this era was the plague in the 14th century. Coming from the east and entering Constantinople, it traveled 2 miles per day and eventually attacked England, France, Germany, and Russia. At least one-third and perhaps one-half of the world's population was dead within three years.
In discussing the Viking raids and domination of Europe, Dr. Foster recounted the heroism of one man who stood against the Viking warrior Guthrum. The latter had broken a treaty and attacked on Christmas night, but the King in Wessex would finally achieve a great victory in May 878 outside of London. Rather than killing his defeated foes, this Christian king in England would convert them to faith in Christ, baptize and disciple them, and commission them to govern areas within the realm. This courageous hero we remember as King Alfred the Great would provide the beginnings of the Christian "Just War Theory" that ran counter to standard pagan practices of rape, pillage, enslavement, and ruination. A humble man, King Alfred said he needed men who would fight, build, and pray. With these, he said he could build a lasting civilization, and indeed, he strategized to build Western Civilization. Among his notable achievements, his Law Code, founded in biblical law, would develop into our English Common Law, which runs through the Magna Charta of 1215, the Covenanters in Scotland, the Jamestown settlers who brought it to North America, the Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution.*
In his next two lectures, Dr. Foster further develops the providential history of the medieval era regarding Muslim opposition, the Crusades, the Christian "Just War Theory," King Alfred the Great's accomplishments, the black death, Wycliffe's achievements, Queen Margaret of Scotland, the downfall of the tyrannical "divine right of kings" monarchs, the English defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and more. I will try to post the notes soon.
Congressman Ron Paul has garnered a large majority of the House of Representatives to sign onto his Audit the Fed bill. Getting this bill passed would certainly be a victory, but the ultimate goal, as Representative Paul unabashedly and uncompromisingly proclaims, is to END THE FED once and for all! Purchase his newest book to find out why.
Now is your opportunity to win free admission to the SAICFF in October of 2010 or the advanced, specialty filmmakers boot-camp in February of 2010! Pajama School and the Advent Film Group are sponsoring a contest for 30-60 second video clips to promote the new book, Pajama School – stories from the life of a homeschool graduate. Find all the details on the Pajama School Blog.
Regular C.S. Hayden's Blog readers could easily guess that I have enjoyed attending almost all of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festivals: 2004, 2005, 2007 (and here), and 2009 (and here and here). I hope for the opportunity to attend the upcoming festival in October next year. If you enter the contest and win, maybe I'll see you there!
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