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Trying three months

Yesterday we drove to North Carolina. Today is the funeral of our nephew, who served with honor in the Air Force. This has been a trying three months for us. Two months ago, my stepfather died. Last month a six-year old cousin-in-law drowned in a pool. This month we are at our nephew’s funeral. I found myself thinking that this reminds me of the warning by Our Lord himself that we do not know... [Read more]

Arizona law partially overturned, but look at the reasons

Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) — A legal battle over a tough Arizona immigration law appeared certain after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday that blocked the most controversial parts of the law a day before it was to take effect. The injunction means that, at least for now, police are prevented from questioning people’s immigration status if there is reason to believe... [Read more]

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Bethel Confession of the Confessing Church and government

Germany in the years immediately preceding World War II and into the beginning of the “Reich” was a terrible place. In fact, Europe was a terrible place during this time. Statism in both its left and right wing forms was winning the day. In every country in Europe and in the USA, racism and xenophobia were openly and strongly expressed, even by churchmen. In Germany out of that hellish... [Read more]

Military service with honor

Yesterday evening the Air Force notified my brother-in-law and his wife that their son, our nephew, had been killed. At this point we do not know the details. We do know that the whole family is heart sore over the news. My brother-in-law and his wife have another son in the military. He is in the Navy. This is so typical of brothers, if one goes into one service, then the other has to go into another... [Read more]

Pithless Thoughts on true priesthood

Father Orthoduck is on the road, so he is printing below parts of a post from Pithless Thoughts. Please do follow the link and read the full post. Father Ernesto hopes to be able to blog again tomorrow. It is no secret to those who know me that I aspired to the priesthood for about 50 years of my life. For 30 of those years since I got fired from my one “full time ministry job” I’ve... [Read more]

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Bethel Confession, Barmen Declaration, and Christian duty

As I have been posting the short series on government, I received the following question: What are your thoughts on the Bethel Confession and the Barmen Declaration, Father? First let me comment that if Dietrich Bonhoffer had been Orthodox, he would have probably been Saint Dietrich. There is no doubt that this was a man fully committed to serving the Lord Jesus Christ under terrible circumstances.... [Read more]

Coffee and enlightenment

Father Orthoduck wishes that he had known that it was this easy years ago. It would have certainly saved him fasting, prayer, Bible study, etc. But, there are definitely mornings  when the statement above sure seems like a true statement! privacy Read More →

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Government, Church, and relationships

Let’s recap, a lot of very conservative Americans have bought into a concept proposed by Abraham Kuyper at the beginning of the 20th century. That concept is that each facet of human life has its own “sphere of influence” within which it is sovereign and capable of acting without interference from other spheres of influence. While recognizing that there are areas of overlap, the theory... [Read more]

Do I look illegal?

Father Orthoduck has preempted Father Ernesto’s discussion on government to present the video below. Certainly, one of the functions of government is to ensure that the laws are written in such a way that they do not lead to inappropriate profiling. As our laws often put it, it is important for government functionaries to have reasonable cause in order to search people, or, yes, in order to require... [Read more]

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Church, State, and Kuyper’s Sphere Sovereignty

A week ago, before all the computer problems started, a person made the following comment: I also think there is a debate to be had regarding the form and function of institutions (Kuyper’s Sphere Sovereignty) – Church, State, Family, etc. This comment fits nicely into the government series that I had started and was delayed by lightning. Of course, this makes one wonder whether there is an... [Read more]