John Calvin on the Doctrine of Separation

The following quotations are taken from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 1. Each section is preceded by an editorial question. Other editorial comments are in brackets [ ].  Stephen P. Crawford compiled these quotes for our old website The Fundamentalism Help File.  All Rights Reserved. 

What doctrine is ground for separation?

“When we say that the pure ministry of the word and pure celebration of the sacraments is a fit pledge and earnest so that we may safely recognize a church in every society in which both exist, our meaning is that we ought never to discard [such a church] so long as these remain, though it may otherwise teem with numerous faults. Nay, even in the administration of word and sacraments defects may creep in which ought not to alienate us from [the church’s] communion.

“For all the heads of true doctrine are not in the same position. Some are so necessary to be known, that all must hold them to be fixed and undoubted as the proper essentials of religion, for instance, that God is one, that Christ is God, and the Son of God, that our salvation depends on the mercy of God, and the like. Others, again, which are the subject of controversy among the churches do not destroy the unity of the faith. For why should it be regarded as a ground of dissension between churches if one, without any spirit of contention or perverseness in dogmatizing, holds that the soul on quitting the body flies to heaven and another, without venturing to speak positively as to the abode, [does not think] it for certain that [the soul] lives with the Lord?

“The words of the Apostle are, 'Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you' (Philippians 3:15). Does he not sufficiently intimate that a difference of opinion as to these matters which are not absolutely necessary ought not to be a ground of dissension among Christians? The best thing, indeed, is to be perfectly agreed but seeing there is no man who is not involved in some mist of ignorance, we must either have no church at all or pardon delusion in those things of which one may be ignorant, without violating the substance of religion and forfeiting salvation.

“Here, however, I have no wish to patronize even the minutest errors, as if I thought it right to foster them by flattery or connivance. What I say is, that we are not on account of every minute difference to abandon a church, provided it retain sound and unimpaired that doctrine in which the safety of piety consists and keep the use of the sacraments instituted by the Lord.” [Section 12]

What conduct is ground for separation?

“Our indulgence ought to extend much farther in tolerating imperfection of conduct. Here there is great danger of falling, and Satan employs all his machinations to ensnare us. For there always have been persons who, imbued with a false persuasion of absolute holiness as if they had already become a kind of aerial spirits, spurn the society of all in whom they see that something human still remains.

“Such of old were the Cathari and the Donatists who were similarly infatuated. Such in the present day are some of the Anabaptists who would be thought to have made superior progress. Others, again, sin in this respect not so much from that insane pride as from inconsiderate zeal. Seeing that among those to whom the gospel is preached the fruit produced is not in accordance with the doctrine, they forthwith conclude that there no church exists.

“The offense is indeed well-founded, and it is one to which in this most unhappy age we give far too much occasion. It is impossible to excuse our accursed sluggishness which the Lord will not leave unpunished, as he is already beginning sharply to chastise us. Woe then to us who, by our dissolute license of wickedness, cause weak consciences to be wounded!

“Still those of whom we have spoken sin in their [own] turn by not knowing how to set bounds to their offense. For where the Lord requires mercy they omit it and give themselves up to immoderate severity. Thinking there is no church where there is not complete purity and integrity of conduct, they through hatred of wickedness withdraw from a genuine church [when] they think they are shunning the company of the ungodly.

“They allege that the Church of God is holy. But that they may at the same time understand that it contains a mixture of good and bad, let them hear from the lips of our Savior that parable in which he compares the Church to a net in which all kinds of fishes are taken but not separated until they are brought ashore. Let them hear [the Church] compared to a field which, planted with good seed, is by the fraud of an enemy mingled with tares and is not freed of them until the harvest is brought into the barn. Let them hear, in fine, that [the Church] is a thrashing floor in which the collected wheat lies concealed under the chaff until, cleansed by the fanners and the sieve, it is at length laid up in the granary. If the Lord declares that the Church will labor under the defect of being burdened with a multitude of wicked until the day of judgment, it is in vain to look for a church altogether free from blemish (Matthew 13).” [Section 13]

What about when whole churches have gone bad?

“They exclaim that it is impossible to tolerate the vice which everywhere stalks abroad like a pestilence. What if the apostle's sentiment applies here also? Among the Corinthians it was not a few that erred but almost the whole body had become tainted. There was not one species of sin merely but a multitude, and those not trivial errors but some of them execrable crimes. There was not only corruption in manners but also in doctrine.

“What course was taken by the holy apostle, in other words, by the organ of the heavenly Spirit by whose testimony the Church stands and falls? Does he seek separation from them? Does he discard them from the kingdom of Christ? Does he strike them with the thunder of a final anathema? He not only does none of these things, but he acknowledges and heralds them as a Church of Christ and a society of saints.

“If the Church remains among the Corinthians where envying, divisions, and contentions rage, where quarrels, lawsuits, and avarice prevail, where a crime which even the Gentiles would execrate is openly approved, where the name of Paul, whom they ought to have honored as a father, is petulantly assailed, where some hold the resurrection of the dead in derision though with it the whole gospel must fall, where the gifts of God are made subservient to ambition, not to charity, where many things are done neither decently nor in order -- if there the Church still remains simply because the ministration of word and sacrament is not rejected, who will presume to deny the title of “church” to those to whom a tenth part of these crimes cannot be imputed? How, I ask, would those who act so morosely against present churches have acted to the Galatians who had done all but abandon the gospel (Galatians 1:6) and yet among them the same apostle found churches?” [Section 14]

What about those who would separate under such conditions?

“Still, however, even the good are sometimes affected by this inconsiderate zeal for righteousness, though we shall find that this excessive moroseness is more the result of pride and a false idea of sanctity than genuine sanctity itself and true zeal for it. Accordingly, those who are the most forward and, as it were, leaders in producing revolt from the Church have, for the most part, no other motive than to display their own superiority by despising all other men.

“Well and wisely therefore does Augustine say, 'Seeing that pious reason and the mode of ecclesiastical discipline ought specially to regard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, which the Apostle enjoins us to keep by bearing with one another ..., those bad sons who, not from hatred of other men’s iniquities but zeal for their own contentions, attempt altogether to draw away or at least to divide weak brethren ensnared by the glare of their name, while swollen with pride, stuffed with petulance, insidiously calumnious, and turbulently seditious, use the cloak of a rigorous severity that they may not seem devoid of the light of truth and pervert to sacrilegious schism and purposes of excision those things which are enjoined in the Holy Scriptures ... to correct a brother's faults by the appliance of a moderate cure' (August. Cont. Parmen. cap. i.).

“To the pious and placid [Augustine’s] advice is, mercifully to correct what they can and to bear patiently with what thou cannot correct in love lamenting and mourning until God either reform or correct or at the harvest root up the tares and scatter the chaff (Ibid. cap. ii.).

“Let all the godly study to provide themselves with these weapons, lest while they deem themselves strenuous and ardent defenders of righteousness they revolt from the kingdom of heaven which is the only kingdom of righteousness. For as God has been pleased that the communion of his Church shall be maintained in this external society, anyone who from hatred of the ungodly violates the bond of this society enters on a downward course, in which he incurs great danger of cutting himself off from the communion of saints.” [Section 16]

But isn’t the Church supposed to be holy?

“Since they also argue that there is good reason for the Church [to be] called holy, it is necessary to consider what the holiness is in which it excels lest by refusing to acknowledge any church, save one that is completely perfect, we leave no church at all.

“It is true indeed, as Paul says, that Christ 'loved the church, and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot, or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish' (Ephesians 5:25-27). Nevertheless, it is true, that the Lord is daily smoothing its wrinkles and wiping away its spots. Hence it follows that its holiness is not yet perfect. Such, then, is the holiness of the Church. It makes daily progress but is not yet perfect. It daily advances but as yet has not reached the goal ...” [Section 17]

Do the Scriptures give precedent for these ideas on separation?

“On this head Christ himself, his apostles, and almost all the prophets have furnished us with examples. Fearful are the descriptions in which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Habakkuk, and others deplore the diseases of the Church of Jerusalem. In the people, the rulers, and the priests corruption prevailed to such a degree that Isaiah hesitates not to liken Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:10). Religion was partly despised, partly adulterated, while in regard to morals we everywhere meet with accounts of theft, robbery, perfidy, murder, and similar crimes.

“The prophets, however, did not therefore either form new churches for themselves or erect new altars on which they might have separate sacrifices but, whatever their countrymen might be [and] reflecting that the Lord had deposited his word with them and instituted the ceremonies by which he was then worshipped, they stretched out pure hands to him though amid the company of the ungodly. Certainly had they thought that they thereby contracted any pollution, they would have died a hundred deaths sooner than suffered themselves to be dragged thither. Nothing, therefore, prevented them from separating themselves but a desire of preserving unity. But if the holy prophets felt no obligation to withdraw from the Church on account of the very numerous and heinous crimes, not of one or two individuals but almost of the whole people, we arrogate too much to ourselves if we presume forthwith to withdraw from the communion of the Church because the lives of all accord not with our judgment or even with the Christian profession.” [Section 18]

“Then what kind of age was that of Christ and the apostles? Yet neither could the desperate impiety of the Pharisees nor the dissolute licentiousness of manners which everywhere prevailed prevent them from using the same sacred rites with the people and meeting in one common temple for the public exercises of religion. And why so but just because they knew that those who joined in these sacred rites with a pure conscience were not at all polluted by the society of the wicked? If anyone is little moved by prophets and apostles, let him at least defer to the authority of Christ.” [Section 19]

Our New Chicken Coop

The family got the urge to keep chickens for eggs.  So I built a hen house and chicken run this past week using some store bought lumber and some scraps laying around.  Turned out fairly nice, but extremely heavy.  Hard to move, but my boys and one of the neighbor kids helped me drag it into place behind the garden.  It is not yet finished.  Need to cut more ventilation in the house, and probably will paint it red at some point. Since I built it without plans, it is basic but very sturdy.  I will probably modify it as I learn more about what will be best for the hens and convenient for us.

Inside the hen house, I built some nesting boxes in hopes that we will get some eggs. We only plan to keep hens.  Not interested in raising chicks right now, so no rooster.  Bought a couple of Barnevelder pullets and threw them into the coop, where they promptly made themselves at home. 

We will get a few more pullets this next week, and then I will probably post some more pics. Hope to have them ready to lay eggs by the middle of June. 

Why I Value My Legalistic Fundamentalist Upbringing

I left Independent Baptist Fundamentalism about 12 years ago.  Today I preach as often as I can against the legalism that I was exposed to when I was churched and educated within the movement.  I refuse to allow my own children to be exposed to that sort of legalism.  I would not wish fundamentalist legalism upon my worst enemy, so to speak. However, had I some magical ability to do it all again, I would not go back to change anything in my own upbringing.   The reason is that while Fundamentalism was desperately trying to make me more righteous and holy through strict applications of extrabiblical and unbiblical rules and regulations, it actually "shot itself in the foot."  Instead of making me more holy, Fundamentalism's rules revealed just how utterly incapable I am of holiness.  Through my struggle to achieve righteousness, I learned the extent of my own depravity.   

I value this because Fundamentalism unwittingly prepared me for the grace of the Gospel by beating me with the Law (or its version).    As I left Fundamentalism, I felt as if I had finally met Christ, had been truly saved, had begun swimming in grace for the first time in my life.  I now knew what it meant to live with Christ as my righteousness instead of me or others having to constantly endure either the weight of my failure or the arrogance of my success.

There are more biblical ways to learn about grace than through fundamentalist legalism.  The fact that learning about grace is its frequent result is no excuse to abuse either people or the Word of God.  But for me at least it was the Providence that gave me my own personal lessons about grace and, as the Law is a schoolmaster, eventually brought me to a more full understanding of Christ.    I would not change a thing for myself because my understanding of grace and the Gospel is profoundly influenced by my upbringing as a legalistic Fundamentalist.

It is an odd mix to preach against legalistic Fundamentalism and to be grateful for its role in my life all at once.  I think the paradox demonstrates the wisdom and sovereignty of God to use people in spite of themselves, like Cyrus was both judge and judged in the Providence of God.     

Turkey Season in West Virginia

Spring Turkey Season opened in West Virginia on April 25, 2011.  The first morning, I got to my spot before dawn and called in a couple of gobblers within the first hour.  The first stayed out of range.  The second saw me raise my shotgun and then took off.   I did not leave empty handed, however, as I stumbled upon a handful of mollymoochers on my way out of the woods.  

The second morning, Tuesday morning, I was making my way to my spot just as the sun was coming up, when I heard a gobbler ahead of me and over the ridge near the spot to which I was heading.  I stopped short of the ridge and headed around the ridge instead of over.  Before I broke around the ridge I heard him gobble loudly, revealing that he was heading my way.  He must have heard me climbing through the woods, because there was no need to call.  They do not mind noise as long as they imagine that it might be another turkey.  

I froze when I heard him again.  Dropped my gear and stood with gun to the ground.  When he came around the ridge in front of me, I waited for him to pass behind a tree, and then aimed at where he would reappear on the other side of the tree.  He poked his head out about 40 yards ahead of me.  Standing frozen on a steep hillside with a heavy shotgun aimed  at a fixed point is not easy, but is essential due to turkeys' immediate reaction to any movement whatsoever.  I waited for him to clear the tree and then fired.  

He rolled down the hillside, flapping violently, in a way that made me wonder if I would lose him.  West Virginia hillsides are very steep, and he could easily keep rolling toward the bottom if nothing stopped him.  I grabbed my gear, put my gun on safety and then ran downhill as fast as I possible could.  Had anyone seen me, I am sure they would never have imagined that I could have moved so quickly or easily through rough terrain.  I am sure it was a combination of both the adrenalin and my imagination that made my feat possible.  I caught up with him about 50 yards down the hillside.  

He weighed well over 20 pounds and is now situated neatly in my freezer.    Eager to do it all again. 

A Couple of Brief Hints for Better Reading Instruction

The following hints are distilled from the Academic Associates Reading Program

How to Sound Out Consonants 

    Some instructors teach children to sound out words awkwardly by adding a full “-uh” sound after consonants.   For example, bad is sounded out as BUH— Ă—DUH.  Unfortunately, adding vowel sounds during the sound-out process can delay fluent reading  for some children.  Instead, instructors should teach each consonant’s most briefly distinguishable sound. Instead of LUH for the letter L, teach only the LLLL- sound.   Instead of a voiced PUH, teach P using only the lips and a short, voiceless puff of air.  Lap becomes LLL—Ă—P-- instead of LUH— Ă —PUH.  Teach only the most essential sound of each consonant, and children will identify words more easily and read more quickly. 

How to Teach Consonant Blends 

    Some instructors make students memorize consonant blends from charts out of context.  For instance, Blah-Bleh-Blih-Bloh-Bluh.   Instead, teach separately the consonants that make only one sound each and then blend them each naturally as they occur in words.  Instead of isolated blends, simply teach the sounds of the individual consonants and help students say them sequentially. In the vast majority of cases, the sounds will blend into words naturally. Teachers can incorporate this method into whatever reading instruction program they are currently using and will save many frustrating hours each year as students make unprecedented progress.

Dealing with Bitterness in Preparation for Dealing with Conflict

Most people have enemies—people who stand or work against them, who are quick to point out and capitalize on their failures. These enemies are usually in a very bad place spiritually. They do not themselves have a grasp of biblical conflict resolution. They are often filled with pride, jealously, fear, or hate. Sometimes it is appropriate to avoid enemies. Sometimes, one cannot avoid enemies because they intentionally place themselves in the way. Sometimes, one must meet them head on.

Spiritually stunted enemies can have a devastating impact upon peace of mind. A strong need for justice is built into every human being. When we do not get justice, or when we feel as though we have been treated unjustly, unkindly, or even simply misunderstood, we can get very, very defensive. This defensiveness destroys the peace of the Gospel in our lives and stirs up turmoil and bitterness in our spirits. This bitterness can effectively take over and overcome good intentions, wise words, and godly actions. It can turn a situation with only one enemy into two enemies, dead-set upon destroying one another. If this battle does not come to pass in actual circumstances, it will at least be played out in the battlefield of the mind. Bitterness rehearses the injustices. It dwells upon them. It enjoys imagining ways to defeat the enemy. It tells others about the injustice, looking for confirmation and support. Bitterness desires to be justified and is very needy. It works hard to infect others, and destroy whatever good impressions others may have of the enemy. It preoccupies waking hours and keeps people up at night. It re-imagines the injustice, regretting brilliant unspoken retorts and planning what will be done and said when the same injustice rears its head again. Bitterness takes over the soul and destroys the peace of the Gospel that should rule in hearts. It takes root deeply and spreads through relationships like kudzu across a hillside.

Christians should be champions of justice. More often than not ignoring injustice under the pretense of peace creates fertile ground for bitterness. However, dealing with injustice while caught in the throes of bitterness often leads to more conflict. Therefore, resolving bitterness should probably precede the resolution of injustice. After all, if resolving bitterness depends solely upon the ability to resolve injustice, then bitterness will often go unresolved. Champions of justice though we should be, we cannot control other people. The simple fact is that, after all efforts to change enemies into friends have been exhausted, often and unfortunately they will remain enemies. It is good if the injustice can be resolved, but it is better if the bitterness is not dependent upon the resolution. It is best if the peace within you trumps the turmoil around you.

How does one prepare the heart to deal with injustice? How does one settle the spirit and restore peace and joy? How does one resolve bitterness prior to or even apart from the resolution of injustice? Three biblical points of meditation have been helpful to me:

1. Love your enemies. 
2. Leave vengeance to the Lord. 
3. Let Christ be your defense, whether you are right or wrong. 

These are not easy points to master. In fact, they are extremely difficult because our God-given sense of justice, warped by depravity, seeks to undermine them again and again. Nevertheless, God commands them, and they do not appear to be dependent upon whether or not justice has been achieved.

Love for enemies is a radical notion. Frankly, we do not even know how to love enemies. It is natural to hate enemies and to seek to destroy them. If we only love our neighbors, then we are no different from unbelievers, because it is normal for them to hate their enemies. Christians should be radically different from the world in that they are called to not only love those who are good to them but also those who use and abuse them. What does love for enemies look like? Frankly I do not always know. But I do know full well when I am hating my enemies.

Though love is much more than the absence of hate, I am quite sure that it at least starts with the absence of hate. And I am quite sure that love and hate cannot occupy the same heart space at the same time. They might alternate though. One could go back and forth between love and hate. Forgiveness is seldom something that needs to be given only once. Our depravity easily stirs up past bitterness and hatred, especially when we rehearse the injustices in our minds or remember them as we relate them to other people. Reaching a place of love for the same unjust enemies will probably need to be done again and again.

Vengeance is often subtle. It seldom involves breaking car windows and burning down houses. Instead, it more often involves a more rational retaliation. Vengeance seeks to destroy the spirit of the enemy, often through wars of words and one-upmanship. It celebrates when bad things happen to those we hate. It is smugly satisfied when others see our enemies as we see them. It views an enemy’s failure and demoralization as victory.

Leaving vengeance to the Lord leaves justice to the Lord and leaves us with the resolution of personal bitterness. It is ostensible to "leave vengeance to the Lord" while retaining a spirit of bitterness. To leave vengeance to God is to put the matter in God’s hands, to let him deal with the injustice as he sees fit and in his time, and to put away the desperate need for one’s own satisfaction. Leaving vengeance to God celebrates his justice by faith. Vengeance that is left to God alone leaves room for love instead of bitterness. How does one know if one has not truly left vengeance to the Lord? Probably if the thought of and hope for God’s vengeance still preoccupies a person. One knows when one has left vengeance to Lord when the need for vengeance no longer rules the heart and preoccupies the mind.

Letting Christ be your defense is a key to these first two points. In fact, all three are tightly interwoven. To accomplish the one without the others is probably not really to accomplish the one. But letting Christ be one’s defense is foundational.

Often, injustice is a personal affront. When personally attacked, we can be desperate in our own self-defense. This desperation, once again, does not represent the peace of the Gospel. It is anything but peaceful, like flailing for a life line in deep, swift water. To what do we look to defend ourselves from attack? To what do we look to protect us from danger? To what do we look to console us in a crisis? The answers to those questions tell us what we are relying upon for our peace, joy, satisfaction, and sense of self-worth. We may have some semblance of peace, joy, satisfaction, and self-worth if we get what we want in answer to those questions. But the real test occurs when we do not get what we want. If we do not get what we want, or have no ability to get those things, our peace, joy, satisfaction, and self-worth is destroyed, and we reveal that we are not letting Christ be our defense.

Christ as our defense is a part of the Gospel. We find all our value in Christ—all our peace, satisfaction, joy and self-worth. He has made us righteous. He has declared us to be perfect and accepted. Nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ; no act of man, no circumstance of injustice. We can have peace in spite of all that goes wrong around us as we learn to rest in Christ.

What is wonderful about this last point is that often enemies are enemies for good reason, that is, because of some failure on our part. Of course, enemies often respond in ways that are totally disproportionate to the offense, hence the injustice that still causes bitterness. However, the fact remains that we mess up and bring some things, at least in part, upon our own heads.

When Christ is our defense, we can deal with whatever results from our errors or sins. We can ask forgiveness and rest peacefully, even when enemies abuse instead of forgive. When Christ is truly our defense, we are not desperate to defend ourselves. Sometimes self-defense amounts to desperate rationalizations. We make lists of ways that the injustice was disproportionate. We might even rationalize our own sins and failures, comparing them to the injustice, and seek to justify them in some way. Or we may seek to hide them, perhaps going so far as to lie, all in the name of self-defense.

Resting our defense in Christ removes any need to do these things and allows us to own up to our weaknesses and failures, taking consequences without fear. When all is said and done, even if we are undone, we will still be complete in Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

As I said before, none of these three things comes easily. I find myself needing to spend much time in prayer and meditation upon God’s Word before I can even begin to grab hold of the nearest edge of these admonitions and truths. My own depravity fights against these things. But when praying to grab hold of them, there is a starting place that begins to bring them into reach. Paul says to forgive as the Lord forgave me. He says to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ forgave me. Christ leads us to pray for forgiveness just as we have forgiven others. Each of these compares God’s forgiveness of our own sins to our willingness or unwillingness to forgive others for theirs. The point is simply that there is no grievance that can be committed against us that we ourselves have not exceeded in magnitude and turpitude against God. We were at one time haters of God, dead in our trespasses and sins, gratifying our sinful cravings and following wicked desires and thoughts. We were deserving objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The starting point for meditation and prayer that moves these three points into our reach is a full consideration of how much we ourselves have been forgiven. There is no sin that has been committed against us that matches the sins we have already been forgiven through Christ. God was merciful to us; can we not find room to be merciful to others, no matter how great their wickedness toward us?

In the end, the injustices if our enemies will probably need to be handled in some way or another. Christians do not have to just roll over and play dead when they are wronged. However, Paul tells us to speak the truth in love. The author of Hebrews tells us to pursue peace with all men. We can deal with injustices in ways that do nothing to really deal with our sinful bitterness, or we can deal with bitterness in ways that prepare us to deal justly with the unjust. In the end, our peace must rest with Christ, who has been merciful to us when we did not deserve it.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. . . .Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:25-32 

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Colossians 3:12-15 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:14-21 

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 

Movies I would Buy If I Bought Movies

I do not buy movies, because I think it is a waste of money.  But if I did, it would be the best compliment that I could give a movie.  It means that I enjoy a movie enough to want to watch again and again.  That is why, when I give my opinions of movies, I often use the following rubric:  Not worth watching, worth watching once, worth watching twice (once in theater and again at home), and worth buying.  I recently thought of trying to add another category called "forgot I already watched it," which would be the worst criticism you could give a movie. Not just implying that the movie was forgettable, but actually forgetting that I had watched it already says a lot about whether or not I enjoyed it.  So what movies would I purchase?   I can only think of a few off the top of my head, but I know there are many more.  If I cannot remember them now, I may be reminded of them when I am watching TV and find myself eagerly rewatching a movie that I have already seen many times before, not just out of  boredom, but out of delight.  What would you buy if you only bought your absolute favorite movies?

• The Sixth Sense
• Unbreakable
• Signs
• Serenity
• The Big Lebowski
• Fargo
• Alien
• Aliens
• The Incredibles