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New York, New York
The UN Security Council has just released a statement condemning the actions of the Maryland State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. UN Resolution #101002 calls for Maryland police officials to show restraint and refrain from reacting with force to the recent shootings that have taken place in surrounding counties over the past week. The A.P. is reporting that Chairman Koffi Annan remarked this morning, "Maryland law enforcement officials must practice forbearance; it is the responsibility of civilized nations not to allow anger to guide their judgment. To resort to force as a first choice is to lower yourself to the level of the dissident."

San Francisco, Calif.
In a joint statement released at a rally in the bay area, People for the American Way and Not In Our Name have called for a town meeting to discuss and explore the historical implications that have led to this urban conflict. A rally organizer proclaimed, "We as a people must look inside and contemplate why this man hates us. We cannot proceed down the road to peace until we acknowledge our past abuses and our current shortcomings, by continuing the hard-line stance that the state police and the FBI are practicing, we risk slipping further into Fascism and we create more enemies. These Storm trooper tactics will only create more Snipers and give the Snipers out there and those that support them, even more reason to hate."

Somewhere in Maryland
CNN is reporting today that they have received an e-mail message from the Sniper in which he calls for an end to the "Draconian measures" that Law enforcement agencies have been practicing, and for complete recognition as a "citizen in good standing." He has also called for a police free zone to be established in nearly half of the Maryland counties, in which he could establish his own enforcement agencies in lieu of permanent recognition as a sovereign entity. World peace organizations have been flocking to area forest preserves in which they have been leaving care packages for the Sniper. Along with dropping off food and medical supplies they have also been taking note of the oppressive measures practiced by local law enforcement.

Wash. D.C.
Ari Fleisher, speaking for President Bush at a Press Briefing this morning, extended an invitation to Chief of Police Moose and to the sniper to join the President at Camp David this weekend in hopes of beginning what he referred to as "a meaningful dialogue." In response, the sniper issued a list of conditions that must be met prior to the meeting, to the State Dept. and the Secret Service with the comment that he is optimistic about the talks and he looks forward to meeting with the President. We are still awaiting comment from Chief of Police Moose.

Geneva Switzerland,
Upon hearing of the Sniper's willingness to negotiate a peaceful settlement, the executive board that determines the ballot for the Nobel Peace Prize has secured two spots on this years ballot - one for the Sniper and one for Chief of Police Moose with the condition that Chief Moose will take decisive action to reign in the militant faction of his police force and that he agrees to meet with the Sniper at the peace table.

Caveat Emptor:
By now, you have realized that if the above statements were true, they would of course be completely ridiculous. I have practiced the above fiction not to be callous towards the real suffering that our fellow Americans are going through in Maryland, but to emphasize an absurdity with absurdity.
The rhetoric that surrounds the debate about peace talks - that tyrants, terrorists, or cold-blooded killers should be invited and can be trusted to carry out peace negotiations is absolute foolishness. The wish for peace 'at any cost' should be seen as just as bizarre as dealing with a cold calculating murderer. The only thing that should be negotiated is surrender. The idea of containment is just a modern euphemism for the doctrine of appeasement, which was tried and failed by Neville Chamberlain and Europe's other well-wishers, nearly 70 years ago. As fanciful as the above may seem, the sad truth is that Yasser Arafat was issued the Nobel Peace Prize, and Benjamin Netanyahu, when he was Prime Minister of Israel, had to sit across from Chairman Arafat, the man responsible for the murder of Benjamin's own brother Johnnie.

The terror that you watch taking place near the beltway each evening will at least give you an idea of what the average Israeli goes through every day: the terror, the unrest, the frustration and the feelings of helplessness; not just in one section of their country, but on every street, in every market, at every school - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
And then, on top of facing the evil intentions of those who pray for a new and this time thorough Holocaust, to be subjected to the ignorance and the arrogance of the United Nations, and at times even the United States, calling for the Israeli's to be patient and not to over react. The outrageous insensitivity of the world's Satanically inspired peace movements is to be expected, but may it not be so from Israel's last and greatest ally. May the wisdom of Providence be our guide, and in the very least, may we allow logic, common sense and the clear lesson of history to prevail.
The events of September 11th have challenged Americans to reconsider those philosophies that have shaped our minds for the past 40 years. There is nothing like a major, sudden dose of cold, hard reality to expose the fallacy of myth. It is this reason that we have included in this issue Steve Turner's poem Creed with its postscript Chance.

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How Shall We Regard It?

Many sincere believers have a vague idea that tradition is always wrong. They suppose that tradition in itself is contrary to the Word of God. Others lean heavily on tradition. Indeed, the great majority of Christians probably lean more heavily on tradition than on the Bible itself.

We received a letter some time ago from an advocate of a religious practice which is all but universal in Christendom. He wrote: "It has been the regular practice of the Church for centuries of time. Is it possible that the Church has been wrong all this time?" Our answer is-certainly it is possible that the Church has been wrong all this time. Man can always be wrong-and generally is!

Can the Church be wrong? Look at the sad history of Israel, God's covenant people! And shall we say that we are less prone to err? Can we claim that the Church under grace has done better than Israel under the Law? Not one whit. The history of the Church in this age of Grace does not make any better reading than the history of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. Whatever may be the virtues or vices of tradition, let us put it down as a fixed principle never to depend on man-not even the Church. We can depend only upon the written Word of God.

TRADITIONS TRUE AND FALSE

The word tradition merely means that which is handed down from one to another. It is not necessarily false. In I Corinthians 11:2 Paul writes: "Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances (Gr. paradosis, traditions), as I delivered them to you."

In this case what Paul had handed down to the Corinthians was most assuredly true, for he had received it by divine revelation. Concerning the Lord's supper he says: "FOR I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD that which also I delivered unto you" (I Cor. 11:23), and a few chapters farther he says again: "For I delivered unto you first of all THAT WHICH I ALSO RECEIVED" (I Cor. 15:3).

Twice in his second letter to the Thessalonians he emphasizes the importance of these traditions.

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" (II Thes. 2:15).

"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us" (II Thes. 3:6).

But let us not forget that Paul was chosen of God to proclaim a particular message some years before the Scriptures were completed. Notice carefully that he does not instruct his readers to follow tradition in general, nor even the traditions of any particular group. He speaks only of that which he had himself received by revelation to proclaim to them.

Those traditions were, of course, absolutely dependable, but the Scriptures have since been completed. No man today can say "Thus saith the Lord," unless he quotes the written Word of God. Therefore human traditions, as such, are wholly unreliable. They may be true or they may be false.

THE DANGERS OF TRADITION

Because some traditions are true men soon confuse tradition with revelation and begin to depend on it. Since God uses men to proclaim His Word we are prone to confuse the words of men with the Word of God. Tradition is the more dangerous because it is not necessarily false.

Error when mixed with truth is the more difficult to discern. Furthermore, our adversary often uses personalities to lead sincere believers into error. Dr. So-and-so's hearers know him as a godly man. They cannot believe that he would preach anything but the truth and accept all he says in simple faith! But this is a perilous mistake.

The very best of men are only men at the very best. Even the most godly men fail. They fail even in handing down the Word of God to their hearers, and so the truth is corrupted. Let us illustrate:

Suppose my computer printer is down and I decide to type out twelve copies of the eighth chapter of Romans on my old typewriter. How should I go about it? Suppose I make the first copy, then copy the second from the first, the third from the second, the fourth from the third and so on to the twelfth.

Do you see the danger? If I should make an error in the second copy there is the danger of repeating that error in every successive copy-and the more such an error may seem to be correct, the greater the danger. If I make two more errors in the fourth copy, one in the fifth and another in the seventh, the errors will multiply and the last copy may well contain them all! The correct way would be to make all twelve copies from the original. So it is with the Word of God.

Men, even godly men, err and their errors are transmitted from generation to generation. Almost every time another error arises it is passed on to following generations; as a result, almost every imaginable heresy is taught in the name of Christ. That is the extreme danger of depending on tradition.

Therefore, even if our fathers copied from their fathers, let us not copy from our fathers. Or, to put it another way-even if our spiritual leaders copied from their spiritual leaders, let us not copy from our spiritual leaders. Let us go to the original-to the Word of God itself and be safe. Before Paul was saved he made much of the traditions of the fathers. He says in Galatians 1:14:

"And [I] profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers."

But with all this tradition behind him he still did not recognize his own Messiah; indeed, he became His greatest enemy on earth. And Paul was not the only one thus blinded by false traditions. Some years after his conversion he wrote to the Romans:

"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

"For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God"
(Rom. 10:1-3).

They were so steeped in tradition that they could not see anything else. This casts light on Peter's statement to the believing Jews of his day:

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,

"But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (I Pet. 1:18,19).

If Paul had continued in the traditions of his fathers he would have been lost. If these Jewish believers had continued in the traditions of their fathers they would all have been lost, as the nation was. What peril there is in following tradition! What multitudes have been lost because they depended upon tradition instead of the Word of God!

OUR LORD AND TRADITION

The Lord Jesus was hated and persecuted for openly opposing the traditions of the Pharisees. However, His answers to them were most significant. When the Pharisees came from Jerusalem and found the disciples eating with "unwashen" hands, "they found fault" (Mark 7:2).

"For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

"And when they come from the market, except they wash [Gr. baptizo, baptize] they eat not. And many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the washing [Gr. baptismos, baptism] of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables.

"Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?" (Mark 7:3-5).

Matthew's record tells us that He began to answer by saying: "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" (Matt. 15:3). But Mark continues with His answer:

"Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.

"Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

"For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things ye do.

"And He said unto them, full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" (Mark 7:6-9).

How dangerous, then, to follow tradition! Back to the top

"Christian character is not mere moral or legal correctness, but the possession and manifestation of nine graces:

love, joy, peace - character as an inward state;
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness - character in expression toward man;
faith, meekness, temperance - character in expression toward God.

Taken together they present a moral portrait of Christ, and may be taken as the apostle's explanation of Gal. 2:20, 'Not I, but Christ,' and as a definition of fruit in John 15:1-8. This character is possible because of the believer's vital union to Christ (John 15:5; I Cor. 12:12, 13) , and is wholly the fruit of the Spirit in those believers who are yielded to Him (Gal. 5:22, 23)"

Dr. C. I. Scofield -'Scofield Reference Bible'

The spiritual life is not simply a life of suppression in which the primary motive is to shun evil. The monk is a good illustration of someone trying to hide from the world and the devil and to suppress his fleshly desires by retreating to the monastery. This is the negative aspect of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Believer; but the spiritual life is also a life of expression - expression toward self, toward others, and toward God -- of personal growth, of personal and corporate ministry, and of worship.

Everything that the Holy Spirit produces in the believer has its roots in worship, else it is human good and will be rejected of God. From prayer to witnessing to giving - all are an outgrowth of the worship of the believer toward God. The gratitude of the Believer expressed as thankfulness and praise in response to the grace of God.

When Paul prays "Grace and so Peace" to the Philippians or for that matter when Peter writes "Grace to you, and peace be multiplied by a full knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord" they are talking about that element of grace that energizes the believer for Phase II of God's plan for the individual - Life in Time. God's plan for the individual is a threefold plan:

• Phase I - Birth from Above or regeneration. The person reborn.
• Phase II - Life in time. The believer confirmed.
• Phase III - Completion in Eternity. The believer perfected, completed.

Standing however differs from state. Standing is procured instantaneously, once and for all at the moment of Salvation, it is not progressive, it is not experienced, but it is a divine production, a work of God irrespective of human merit, that will be secured and kept by God himself throughout eternity not on the basis of any condition or on the basis of man's faithfulness, but on the grounds of God's faithfulness. State is temporary, it is conditional, it is progressive, it ebbs and flows depending on our mindset and on whether we are guided by human viewpoint or divine, on which nature we hand the reigns to our soul.

Our salvation and all our privileges arising from it are the product of God's grace; yet the enjoyment of them in time depends on our attitude (positive volition toward Christ and his Word). The believer's Security does not depend on the maintenance, consistency, or the strength of our faith, but our experience in time does. Our standing is eternal because it is God who stands sentinel, our standing is fixed it is static, but our state is variable, it fluctuates from moment to moment, because the victory or defeat we experience in our daily Christian life is directly affected by our mental attitude, by our adjustment to the indwelling Spirit, by our occupation with Christ. Our spiritual birth comes at a moment in time, we are born again based on a single act of faith, and even more our spiritual life is sealed and protected for all time by the very hand of God, but our appreciation of that birth, of that life and of all the blessings that come with it, our enjoyment of our privileges, our experience of these blessings, our allegiance to our duty, our devotion to our responsibilities, the flavor of our life in time is based on an attitude of faith - a consistent reliance, a continual trust that God will bring the gain, that God will produce the fruit, that it is in His power that we are confirmed, and are perfected.

So the formula that is present in Phase I is maintained in Phase II, while God's provision is perfect and infinite in terms of it's supply it is only experienced by the few and as the motto of Phase I is stated as "Whosoever will may come" the motto of Phase II is "Whosoever will may triumph." All those who come to trust Christ experience peace with God (Rom. 5:1), but only few will experience the peace of God, those few who put their trust in God and whose occupation is on Christ.

At the point of salvation the believer is blessed with every spiritual blessing, the challenge then is to make use of our perfect provision and to do so consistently better today than we had yesterday. For the believer, the very 'armor of God' is standard issue, the question is then is it our daily wear, or is it collecting dust somewhere in our wardrobe?