My goal in this video is to explain church government in a Biblical and succinct manner, doing so through the lens of the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition. I pray you'll find it helpful.

“There is no evidence of fraud in this election”
 
That’s the line some folks keep repeating...  probably because they keep hearing it reinforced in the media, spoken by politicians, and touted by a certain hair-sniffing person who, without certification of a single vote keeps referring to himself as the 'President-Elect.'  But regardless of why a person says it or believes it, my goal in this piece is to challenge them a little.  My comments are not made so much in the interests of politics but in the interest of truth.  As a minister of Christ my business is truth.  Also, my comments are written in the form of a letter written to a fictional friend.   

​So, here goes....  

                                                                                                                                                                         November 19, 2020
To my dear friend,
Dr. Reginald “no evidence of fraud” Jones,
 
Greetings.  I trust you and yours are well.  Also I am looking forward to learning whether Aunt Gladys was able to get the upper hand on that termite problem of hers.  I did try to warn her that bringing woodboring insects into her home as pets would not end well but you know Gladys.  She’s stuck in her ways. 
 
I am writing to you today because you recently shared with me your belief that there is no evidence of fraud in the latest presidential election.  I have thought long and hard about your statement and have concluded (respectfully) that only a total dipstick would spout such gibberish.   
 
To explain, let me first define my terms.  What is evidence?  Well, evidence is a body of facts establishing whether a proposition is plausible – not whether it’s true, that’s called ‘proof.’  So, if you told me that there is no proof of massive election fraud in the recent election you would be technically correct.  But if you continue to maintain that there is no evidence of fraud...  well, I would refer you back to my dipstick comment. 
 
In order to assist your thinking please consider the following points, each of which constitutes evidence (not proof) demonstrating that allegations of fraud are not only plausible but that they also warrant investigation.  Here are the facts as we know them:  
 
1) Unprecedented voting irregularities, particularly in battleground states, took place in this election.
2) After trailing by significant margins, in many of these states, Mr. Biden unexpectedly sprung into the lead.  
3) This, we were told, was due to unmatched record-breaking voter participation in heavily blue areas not usually known for heavy voter participation. 
4) A sizable portion of these voter’s ballots were discovered in the dead of night and/or under other abnormal circumstances.  
5)  In many places election observers were either hindered or prevented from witnessing the counting and recording of these and other ballets. 
6)  All of the aforementioned anomalies seem to have benefited the democrat presidential candidate exclusively. 
7)  Since the election, hundreds of poll watchers and workers of both political parties have signed affidavits stating that they personally witnessed fraud at various polling locations.  I would add that sworn statements are admissible evidence in every court in the land.
 
In light of all of this, my dear Reggie, I would suggest that fair-minded people who love truth and desire to maintain the integrity of civil government should all agree that there is certainly evidence establishing the plausibility of election fraud.  As such, and in the name of transparency, this matter must be thoroughly investigated immediately.

We have nothing to fear from the truth.  But lies bring with them great danger.     
 
If I’ve erred in my reasoning please let me know.  I do value your thoughts. 
 
Your friend,
R Crabtree

​
 Allow me to speak boldly as a white man.  I can do no other and I will not make any apology for it.
 
One of the things I see at present, as our country is being troubled by rioters, radicals, and reactionaries, are youngish white people burning down their own country.  I realize there are people of other colors doing it too but it is the white ones I focus on here, especially as, in my opinion, they are to be pitied.
 
By the seeming accident of their births they were born into the shadow of a society that had long abandoned its light.  Like fools the parents and grandparents of these young pseudo-revolutionaries abandoned the Christianity of their forbearers, preferring a novel yet suicide-inducing secularism.  The fruit of this secularism, now ripened and matured, is a generation madly burning down the house around them.
 
Yes.  That is what I see in much of the hubbub that surrounds us today.  And it’s pathetic.

But why are they doing this?

The answer is simple - they know of no other way to deal with the guilt and shame of their sin.
 
Secularized young whites are greatly burdened with guilt and shame (whether real or imagined – and I think for many whites, guilt on the issue of race it’s entirely imagined).  Secularized young whites who, joining their parents and grandparents, have shamelessly abandoned their cultural and spiritual heritage.  These are secularized young whites who seem to be desperately looking for a way to alleviate the guilt and shame that all men in Adam bear.  These are secularized young whites born into a godless age and who wouldn't recognize the gospel if they tripped over it in the park. 
 
To these people I now speak directly:  Your guilt will never be alleviated – much less atoned for – through capitulation to mob-demands, through showy public displays of secular penance, and/or by pretending that your forbearers were all evil bigots, when they actually weren’t.  At present your actions appear to be merely the self-justifying nonsense of people who desperately want to feel righteous and have others affirm them as such.  But alas!  It will not work.  In fact, it is evil.    
 
Yes, you can try to deal with the guilt you feel by pulling down statues, shouting slogans, denying history, condemning your neighbors, kissing black men’s feet and/or engaging in other narcissistic expressions of self-flagellation in the hopes that the world will take notice and affirm you.  But God won’t take notice.  God is not moved by the egocentric, and pharisaical, foibles of people desperate to justify themselves in the eyes of others.  Indeed, all of what you are now doing is reminiscent of the arrogant Pharisee in Luke 18, whose public ‘prayer’ began:  ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men...”  
 
So...   Do you actually want to deal with your guilt?  
 
Know this; guilt and shame can only be dealt with by the grace of God, through the cross of Jesus Christ.  It was on the cross that the Lord Jesus took upon Himself the guilt and shame of sinners, suffering in their place, that they might go free, being reconciled to God and to their fellow man.  I bring you good news!  God is willing to forgive the humble and broken who turn to Him and to free them of the burden of guilt.
 
How can I be so sure, you ask.
 
Because God Himself told me so:   
 
            " Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. "  
(Matthew 11:28-29, ESV)
 
 
            Would you be free from your guilt and shame?
 
            Step out of the shadow of a crumbling narcissistic culture and step into the light of God in Christ.    

​Here’s my response to the Caronavirus...   It’s a song written By Bob Dylan and covered below by Trevor Willmott.  

I dare you to listen to the lyrics!  They are absolutely perfect!  
 
Sure.  The song was originally written about the mass hysteria of the 50’s and 60’s that led otherwise reasonable folks to dig fallout shelters in their backyards, but the song is still relevant in light of the current hysteria that surrounds us.
 
I offer it to you as my own personal response to the panic and fear surrounding the Caronavirus pandemic.  
 
For myself – especially as a Christian – I am NOT afraid of death, my Savior knows His way out of the tomb.   Furthermore, I will not live in fear, for I serve a Master who is sovereign over all things and who has commanded me: 
 
            "“...do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  
(Matthew 6:34, ESV)

 1.  “Rhett was the best guy I ever knew.” 
Obviously there is not a lot of danger that someone will actually say this at MY funeral, but this is the sort of thing people often say at funerals.  It’s almost as if we think that death qualifies people for sainthood or something.  Here’s the unpleasant truth though – death is the final proof that the person in the box was a sinner. (Romans 6:23)
 
2.  "Death is just a part of life.” 
No it is not.  Death is the end of life and in the beginning God did not intend life to end.  Death is a foreign invader.  Death is unnatural.  Death was introduced to this world as the consequence of our first parent’s sin. (Genesis 2:17)  Claiming that death is just a part of life is an encouragement for folks to grow comfortable with it.  Whatever you do, don’t do that!
 
3.  "Oh, doesn’t he look good.” 
Is it just me or is there something incredibly off-putting about people at calling hours praising a corpse for its beauty?  Corpses aren’t beautiful no matter how much makeup and greasepaint a funeral director puts on them.  As Christians especially I think it is important to squarely face the ugliness of death. 
 
4.  "Rhett wouldn’t want us to cry at a time like this” 
Yes I would!  Death hurts.  The loss of a loved one is painful.  Grief invokes deep emotions...  and it’s ok to express these things to God and to others - even with tears (Psalm 56:8).  We Christians are NOT stoics and there is therefore, nothing particularly brave or spiritual in acting like we are.
 
5.  “We have lost a friend but God has gained an angel.” 
Where do I even begin with this nonsense?  People do NOT become angels when they die!  So if a pastor were to actually say something like this at a funeral we could only conclude: A) He is in an advanced state of intoxication and not responsible for his words.  B)  He’s intentionally trying to get stripped of his ordination credentials.  C)  He’s the pastor of one of those ‘anything goes churches’ where they bless dogs and cats, waive rainbow flags, and generally ignore the Bible altogether.
 
6.  “What’s in that coffin is not Rhett, but just his shell.”
Nope.  That actually Rhett in the coffin, not just a shell of him.  His body – like all people’s bodies – will rise up out of the grave one day to meet Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, bodily we will all live on in one of two places for eternity.  Either bodily in Heaven or bodily in Hell.  Therefore, that body in the coffin is pretty important.   (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
 
7.  “I know Rhett’s looking down on us right now.” 
Don’t count on it.  When my spirit goes to be with Christ I’ll have much more interesting things to look at. (2 Corinthians 5:8, Revelation 7:9-17)
 
8.  “At this funeral I’ve decided not to tell you anything about Christ’s resurrection.”  
Yes!  I realize no one conducting a funeral would actually say these exact words...  but I’ve been to many ‘Christian’ funerals (maybe the majority) where the resurrection of Christ was not mentioned at all.  Going away I wondered, did the man in the pulpit forget that there is only one hope in the face of death?  Did he forget that to be a Christian is to be in the protective hands of a Savior who knows His way out of a tomb?  The preacher took time to recite clichés, to share amusing stories, to wander down memory lane offering a kind of flavorless sympathy to the mourners...  But he seemed to have forgotten that Christ has defeated death.
 
 Whatever else might be said at my funeral when I die, let these words of the risen & reigning Savior fill the ears of each and every mourner:
 
            “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
 (John 11:25-26, ESV)