history

i found a couple of books by Bishop JC Ryle a while ago and edited them for publication. ryle wrote two books chronicling the lives of pastors from the 17th and 18th century. he wrote about men who became martyrs under queen mary and elizabeth and king james the second. the catholic church murdered many protestant pastors who refused to believe in the church's doctrine of transubstantiation.

transubstantiation teaches that, when the priest conducts mass, the wafer that the priest presents to the parish literally, figuratively, actually, physically becomes the body of Christ. yes. we are talking about a common wafer of common bread. the priest "sacrifices" this body during the ceremony of the mass and the faithful eat this "body of Christ" in order to partake in this sacrament and receive forgiveness of their sins. according to the catholic church, the priest continually sacrifices Christ every time he conducts the mass, and the members of the church literally eat his physical body. no, i am not mistaking "literal" for "figurative." this is common knowledge.

in recounting the deaths of these 17th century protestants, ryle repeats the words of one John Rogers

i was asked whether i believed in the sacrament to be the very body and blood of our saviour Jesus Christ that was born of the virgin mary and hanged on the cross, really and substantially? i answered, i think it to be false. corporally Christ is only in heaven, and so Christ cannot be corporally in your sacrament.

another minister, Rowland Taylor says

the second cause why i was condemned as a heretic was that i denied transubstantiation, and concomitation, two juggling words whereby the papists [catholics, who adhere to the papacy, or the system of popery] believe that Christ's naturaly body is made of bread, and the Godhead by and by to be joined hereto, so that immediately after the words of consecration [by the priest], there is no more bread and wine in the sacrament, but the substance only of the body and blood of Christ. because i denied the aforesaid papistical doctrine--yea rather plain wicked idolatry, blasphemy, and heresy--i am judged a heretic.

the catholics taught a plainly nonsensical, obviously false doctrine, and if you believed it, the church accepted you. if you admit to their insanity, you belong to their church. if you refuse what your eyes and ears and nose and mouth and hands tell you, you are safe. if you deny reality, you live. however, if you do not participate in their obvious deception, their plain madness, you will lose your life.

if you agree with another man's plain lies under pain of death, you are owned. you do not belong to yourself; you belong to him. you belong to whatever system forces you to believe this insanity. you do not belong to the truth. you do not belong to reality. you have given yourself over to everything that this system believes and your mind is no longer your own. this system, this philosophy, this religion now owns you because they own your mind, your beliefs, and every action that proceeds from these. this is the ultimate mind control--not that someone bends your will or coerces you against your will to believe their truth but that they convince you to give yourself over to them willingly.

the catholic church did this centuries ago but today we have another church--the church of leftism. what is the parallel? obviously transgenderism. 

the left seeks to abolish reality because they seek control over your mind. if the left can convince you, not through facts, or reason, but through emotion and social pressure, to admit that men are women and women are men, then they own you. if you will deny these basic biological facts that every human being must admit as soon as he begins to learn the basic foundation of language and the basic relationships of society--mama, papa--then they control you, your mind, your beliefs, your words, everything about you. you will believe everything they say, support every cause they present, give yourself to every sacrifice they demand.

there are two genders.

men and women are distinct in capacity and ability but equal in value.

male and female are fixed states of biology.

a man's character matters, not his race.

God alone is true

Do not be owned unless by Christ.

new book. NEW BOOK. nEw BooK. NeW BoOk.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BDSDSW8

While Puritan Minister Thomas Manton usually preached book to book, verse by verse in Scripture, occasionally he blessed his parish with topical studies. This volume collects sermons intended to "promote peace and holiness," in Manton's words. Manton speaks on Christian unity, obedience from the heart, expecting trouble in this world, the blessing of marriage, the sufficiency of scripture, and the spiritual famine of England, among others. First expositional, always devotional, thick with scripture and the warmth of a preacher in love with Christ and his people, and never infected with the banal, pointless sentimentality of this modern age, Thomas Manton never fails to inspire true devotion. By Ted Cortez Publishing.

cursed

martin luther king jr gave a speech about 57 years ago on the steps of the lincoln memorial in washington dc.

one hundred years [after the emancipation proclamation] the negro is still not free

the negro is not free today either but his slavery does not come from outside himself, from oppressive governments or slave traders or racist systems in the south. today he enslaves himself.

at the time mlk gave his speech, the reverend walked hand in hand with white men and women, with other black men and women, dressed in suits and dresses, the same attire many people of the time wore to attend a sunday service at church. all of these men and women respected each other. they respected those who opposed them, even though they despised the racism and intolerance their enemies supported. they did not resort to violence. they did not destroy property or steal or murder black policemen or destroy black businesses. they marched. they sang Christian hymns. they prayed and they spoke. mlk largely achieved what he set out to achieve. police brutality began to decrease. black men and women received the right to vote and desegregation began.

why is the black not yet free today?

martin luther king jr's speech was not a prayer to God, but an appeal to men. mlk pleaded to men to give him grace. he asked for the favor of men. he did not place his faith in God but in sinful, weak, cowardly men. it was a noble effort but ultimately always destined to fail. 

cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength

black prosperity began to rise after the emancipation proclamation but obviously there remained much injustice. can we compare church attendance in the black community today to church attendance during and after slavery? i doubt anyone even has data on this but i will wager the disparity is enormous. the fact is that difficult situations drive us to God. God takes his time but he redeems the evil deeds of men and causes blessing to come from them. of course we should fight against injustice, but as believers, that is not our priority. God created us to glorify him, to give honor to him, to praise him in the midst of pain and trust him to bring glory to himself and not to trust in men to correct injustice. God commands us to preach the Gospel, not to primarily right the wrongs of inherently unjust systems created by inherently unjust men. the best men can do is punish evil but we fail miserably when it comes to preventing it.

But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for [authority] does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

injustice lies within every one of us. mlk believed he could change the hearts of men and through laws eliminate the hatred that resides inside of us. instead he enabled it. men began to trust in men and not in God and when these authorities inevitably failed them, the blacks returned hatred for hatred. their god of laws and government and authority betrayed them. this was an obvious and foreseeable conclusion.

God alone changes hearts. God alone convicts men of sin, enables them, not superficially, but honestly, to choose righteously and compassionately. any appeal to men and the strength of men will ultimately fail. at the same time, each of us is responsible to him and any blame we place on others will fall on us just as quickly. every single one of us who trust in ourselves or in others have cursed ourselves.

we have no hope in men, in their laws, in their ability to choose justly. our only hope is God. but he allows injustice. he allows sin and death and hatred. he allows these things so we seek him and acknowledge that only in him are hope and truth and righteousness. he does not want us to be satisfied with this world for it is not our home.

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

none of us will ever be satisfied with this earth. we are not meant to be. 

also trust

so society is actively collapsing...we knew this sometime ago. i would trace the decline at the onset of darwinism. the theory reduces the value of life to that of animals, beasts, insects even. we are merely the highest form of a chain of beasts. so what if some conquer, oppress, or destroy others? we're all literally just meat. there is no moral value in meat, in eating it, killing it, enslaving it. in fact, we saw the decline immediately after darwin's theory took hold in the form of adolf hitler. he was basically the first darwinist warmonger. now we have institutionalized his beliefs in academia and the news media, somewhat in the church. it's insane. the only difference now is that our beliefs are less theoretical and more practical.

my point is that i want to buy a gun. well, i don't want to but i should. one way or another, eventually america will collapse. every country does. it's in the nature of all of us to throw off authority. first, we degrade authority both by the actions of authority and the actions of those under authority. we teach our children that authority is inherently unrighteous. we deny the existence of God. we tear down our fathers and replace them with our mothers who do not handle authority well. women do not control their emotions well without the strong influence of men. i think every honest women will agree with me and the dishonest will just scream with rage.

i will buy a gun, not because i want to, but because circumstances necessitate i do. i guess i am not a man if i don't take ownership of my decision. i want a goddamn gun. i'll probably get a sig. those look nice. i try to deny the responsibility of making a decision because i'm afraid. i'm afraid of owning a gun, of shooting one, of having this responsibility of life and death, of having to defend myself and my family, of the whole idea of growing up and being a man. it's time i guess. i'm not a child and i don't want to not buy a gun just because my mother doesn't like guns. grow up, dude.

oh yeah, the title. do i trust God and not buy a gun? do i trust God to defend me? he may not. it's my soul he defends, not my body. 

precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones.

HA. he wants me to die, at some point. the body is not his main concern. so do i trust him and not buy a gun, or do i move forward and trust him in buying one and trust him to give me the maturity to handle this responsibility? do i grow up?

say this if you never want a job

i had to write this as part of an application for an adjunct position at a junior college

Equity Statement

As a minority (Mexican/Filipino/Indian), I have experienced a negligible amount of discrimination because of my ethnic background. I grew up in a predominantly white suburb on the outskirts of Bakersfield, Ca. None of it hampered my opportunities however. I believe that, for the most part, America remains a very free country where any person who works hard, treats people well, and does his best to make honest and moral choices will succeed. I have taught many years and encountered many students of all kinds of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. I have done my best to expect the best of every student, to challenge them all, and to treat them with respect. At the same time, I do not believe any student has the right to treat anyone else with disrespect, regardless of their ethnicity, their socioeconomic background, or any personal difficulty they may face. We all face difficulty in life, and we all bear the responsibility to overcome difficulty and give our best to the people around us, no matter what real or perceived slight, discrimination, prejudice, or injustice we, our family or our ancestors have faced. Difficult situations create character, and character brings success. We do not find character by casting blame on others or by demanding what we did not earn.

Ted Cortez

Justice

A free country cannot survive without faith. Freedom requires every man to govern himself. If we are to be civilized, we must control ourselves as individuals, and not rely on a tyrannical government to police us. Every person, with or without authority, must be accountable to himself, and the only way this happens is through faith in God, for he is the only authority that we must all answer to and from whom we cannot escape. We must choose between freedom with faith or oppression without it.

When we abandon faith, we abandon every incentive to behave righteously, to live not only for ourselves but for others. Regardless of our race, our wealth, our authority in society, we will not behave morally without faith. Most us behave morally when external incentives require us to--physical, emotional, sociological needs demand that we control ourselves. We behave when we act as individuals and when we do not have the anonymity that releases us from these restrictions. When our neighbors see us and when the authorities monitor us, we behave ourselves, but when our neighbors refuse to act righteously and when the authorities do as well, everyone who denies the existence of God will abandon all pretense of morality. Every person who has nothing to lose from a complete upending of the established society will abandon every pretense to self-control. They have no Judge to answer to. What is at stake for them? Why should they police themselves?

I believe in a moral Judge. I believe in the Judge of all the earth. I believe he will judge righteously. Though I witness injustice, I trust him to set everything right, either here and now, or later in eternity. I do not need to act from fear. I do not lose control over any panic that injustice will ultimately affect me or my loved ones.

The Lord keeps all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

I fear him. Those who refuse to acknowledge his existence have no incentive to exercise self-control. Those who have little to lose, who deny the existence of their eternal soul, will instead live for themselves and also deny the existence of any authority they deem "unjust." At this point, justice becomes a question of who has the greater might, and less one of who is right. The only motivations keeping the unbeliever from absolute anarchy are either the wealth and power he has amassed for himself, or the external force of a heavy handed government. If his power and prestige are gone, if government does not oppress him completely, he has no reason to govern himself for he does not believe that God will judge him.

There will always be evil in this world. There will always be injustice. Men in power will abuse their power. Men and women will always lie, steal, and murder. God did not intend this world to be perfect. The intention of this world is to point us to him and depend on him to redeem us and our lives in the midst of injustice. We hope for perfection in the next world. We trust in him in this world. This can be a wonderful life, not a perfect one, but only if we believe in God.

MORALITY IS SUBJECTIVE

i follow prageru on insta and yt. dennis prager a very jewish jew started prageru to educate people on typical conservative ideas--God, morality, politics, philosophy--it's all great stuff. i don't agree with him on everything (Calvinism and free will obviously) but on the political stuff he's right on. he posted something today regarding the complete shitshow that was this weekend's BLM protests aka RIOTS and LOOTING. just to be clear, i have no problem with peaceful protests, even if said protests protest nothing particularly meaningful. the guy is in jail already. he was in jail before the protests. the other guys (Arbery) are in jail and the Breonna Taylor story i have little information on. they had a "no knock" warrant and the guy inside started shooting at them. seems like a terrible tragedy and whether or not the officers announced themselves is disputed. there's no bodycam footage on that story. but the other ones did not warrant this kind of response. what else is going to happen? are they going to put them in jail again? or do people want them to just be immediately executed? i mean there were four guys involved in Floyd's murder and about the same in Arbery's and they're all in jail but you guys went and destroyed entire cities including black-owned businesses and you also killed actual black people because Roger Reporter and Peter Professor have been telling you that you are oppressed by not only these guys, these eight (?) guys but by EVERYONE. this invisible spector of racism that rich, famous, non-oppressed, non-victims of racism black people and rich, white, non-oppressed, non-victims of white racism have been telling you about. idk

anyway. prager said that america can only be free if people are moral. the founders founded america on this idea, that a free country requires a moral people. moral people require a belief in God or some other intrinsic motivation, where each individual motivates himself to behave morally. moral people can live in freedom because they do not need extrinsic motivation to maintain order. they order/govern/police themselves because they believe themselves accountable to God (an intrinsic belief) and not to some extrinsic force (government). a people who do not believe in God or do not have some other intrinsic belief that motivates them to govern themselves require external force. the more people, the greater the force required. this is what we saw in america this weekend. people refused to govern themselves and since we have been a country of people who typically govern themselves, we do not have the resources and manpower to keep order for such a large population and our law enforcement typically does not exercise the force necessary to keep order for a large number of people who spontaneously decide to violate order and not govern themselves. we do not usually force people to control themselves, i.e. with strength, brutality, tear gas, guns, etc. because we do not need to. but as more and more people deny God and his accountability in their lives, we see more and more people who need external force to keep them from destroying this fragile fabric of society.

so guess what atheist libertarian guy said

i mean sure. it's retarded. why? because morality is subjective. people do not need morals to be free? is that what he's saying? if morality is subjective, then it doesn't even matter if people are free or not. you can't even define freedom because my freedom may impugn yours but who cares if morality is subjective? this guy's idea is fucking retarded.

i've visited other countries, namely catholic countries where people pretend to believe in God but since God to them is just a ritual thing, something you do at church, a priest that really doesn't hold you accountable but just condones whatever you do as long as you give and attend, there is no morality there. there is no intrinsic motivation to behavior. God holds no one accountable. men piss in the streets in front of the opposite sex. pornographic posters in the barbershops. this was thirty years ago mind you and i didn't even spend that much time in the city. we hung out at the mission with honest protestants who read the bible and preached the word of God. but it's worse in atheist countries and muslim countries where deviance and oppressive dictatorial rule is just a matter of course. remember when we "liberated" Iraq and everything went to shit because Saddam no longer ruled the people with an iron fist? before Bush began the surge and policed the region with a firm but less oppressive force, the place was another shitshow just like the Democrat-run cities this weekend. i remember. but this kid, he knows nothing other than what his profs tell him at uni. MORALITY SUBJECTIVE. GOD FALSE.

If morality is subjective and depends on the individual (the subject) then there is no morality. if anyone can have their own morality then pedophilia can be right for some people and wrong for some people but no one can say it's wrong for everyone and you can't establish any kind of law against it because you've already decided morality is subjective and anyone can have any "morality" they want. it's like saying "length is subjective" or "biology is subjective" (which people are doing right now, e.g. the transes). you only get insanity and you hurt the people who don't participate in your insanity. you hurt yourself too but you will only feel the effects later. subjective morality is retarded. it's not morality at all. so when i say, if you believe morality is subjective that you support pedophilia, i mean that you cannot say that it is wrong. you cannot say that murder is wrong or theft is wrong or racism or slavery or homophobia or being a Nazi or anything, really. if you aren't against racism then you're a racist. that's what the kids are saying these days anyway.

what am i supposed to do? i'm retarded and i say retarded things. he never actually made an argument but he did post a nice meme.

FOLLOW PRAGERU ON THE TUBE

NEW READING THING YO WITH PAGES

AND SCRIPTURE INDEX. IT'S GOOD

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089NVP5FM

Daniel Whitby thought he wrote the definitive, unanswerable treatise against Calvinism until John Gill almost reluctantly said "False." His book, The Cause of God and Truth answered Whitby's Discourses on the Five Points with a vengeance. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Not only does Gill trace the doctrines of grace through scripture, answering Whitby's discourses verse by verse, but he explains how Whitby fallaciously used the writing of the church fathers to support Arminian nonsense. Excellent excellent book.

This edition also includes John Owen's answer to Arminianism and Spurgeon's short essay on the subject. Paperback should be available in a couple of days.