Silence

Pastor Mark Driscoll blogs on the value of silence...

It was a very normal day until I realized that I was actively destroying my own soul....

As I drifted off to sleep, it dawned on me that I had not had one minute of silence during my entire day. It was possible, I realized, that I could live the rest of my life without ever again experiencing silence.

In that moment, God deeply convicted me that I was addicted to the false trinity of our day, the gods known as Noise, Hurry, and Crowds. I remembered the words of missionary martyr Jim Elliot, who said, “I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds . . . Satan is quite aware of the power of silence.”

Read the article here.

Reading Tactics...

Do you have your "New Year's Reading List" planned out? I do, and I can't wait to dig in.

Here is an article to help inspire you to read more and better. The Simple Dollar has an article called, "Fifteen Tactics for Maximizing Your Investment in Reading for Personal Growth" that is well worth checking out.

Then get started organizing your reading plan!

Most Christians believe Jesus is not THE Savior

From USA Today:

Most American religious believers, including most Christians, say eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior, a new survey finds.

Of the 65% of people who held this open view of heaven's gates, 80% named at least one non-Christian group — Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or people with no religion at all — who may also be saved, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Planned Parenthood covers up sexual abuse of 13 year old (again)

For those who thought that the news several weeks ago of Planned Parenthood covering up the sexual abuse & rape of a 13 year old was a fluke, think again. Second Planned Parenthood in Indiana covers over statutory rape and counsels what she believes to be a 13 year old to go to a neighboring state so she can kill her baby without her parent's consent.



True colors are shining through.

Why does Planned Parenthood receive $300 million of your tax dollars.

Don't forget Obama has vowed to enact the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" which would repeal all state laws such as parental consent laws, partial birth abortion bans, ad infinitum.

Lessons on Evangelism from an Atheist

Filed under: "I couldn't have said it better myself" and "Aslan is on the Move"
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Here is a surprising insight from Penn (of Penn & Teller fame) on the issue of evangelism (video is 5:11 & well worth your time):



He says,

I don't respect people who don't proselytize. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, and you think, 'Well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward'... How much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?

Wow.

[HT: Stetzer]

Something to think about...

"If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much, and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy, sick." -John Steinbeck

Newsweek's Latest Propaganda for Gay Marriage

Al Mohler responds to Newsweek's bald-faced assault on heterosexual marriage & the Bible. His conclusion:

The national news media are collectively embarrassed by the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Gay rights activists are publicly calling on the mainstream media to offer support for gay marriage, arguing that the media let them down in November. It appears that Newsweek intends to do its part to press for same-sex marriage. Many observers believe that the main obstacle to this agenda is a resolute opposition grounded in Christian conviction. Newsweek clearly intends to reduce that opposition.

Newsweek could have offered its readers a careful and balanced review of the crucial issues related to this question. It chose another path -- and published this cover story. The magazine's readers and this controversial issue deserved better.

Read the whole article here.

Facing myself in order to know myself

Filed Under: I couldn't have said it better myself...
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I will never begin to know myself until I can face myself. I will never be able to begin to unscramble the web of interior contradiction unless I am confident that, no matter how scrambled and ugly things are inside, I am safe, loved, and on the road to full recovery. I will never be able to open myself to people, and I will never be able to take the risks of love (risks without which I will never discover who I am), until I no longer need people for my deepest validation. The gospel frees me from that need. Plenty about me may shock people, but nothing can shock God, and all of it has been covered by the cross.

Charles Drew, A Journey Worth Taking, p. 158.

The First Kiss....

Here is an update on this post from the Chicago Sun-Times.

So what is it like to kiss a girl for the first time ever, after she has become your wife?

"It was surreal," said Claudaniel "CD" Fabien, 30, after his marriage to Melody LaLuz Fabien on Saturday. "It was like, my other self came out and said, 'Look dude, you're kissing her!'"

Claudaniel, 30, and Melody, 28, had pledged to be abstinent before marriage -- but went a little further by agreeing not to kiss each other on the lips before their union was official.

Why so strict? They didn't even want to get close to temptation, instead waiting until the minister said the magic words: "NOW, you may kiss the bride"....

The crowd at Maranatha World Revival Ministries on the Northwest Side whooped and hollered when the couple had their first kiss -- actually, their first few kisses -- with Melody coming back for one more peck like a kid sneaking frosting from a cake.

Afterward, she described the kiss as "magical."

"It feels like such a gift," said Melody. "When you value a kiss, it becomes something of worth."

With so much junk & ugliness in the world, it's simply awesome to ponder something so beautiful. Definitely echoes of another world.

Be sure to read the full article here.

Planned Parenthood covers up sexual abuse of 13 year old

Michelle Malkin reports,

BLOOMINGTON, IN, December 3 –- New footage released today from an undercover camera inside an abortion clinic in Bloomington shows Planned Parenthood staff deliberately violating the state’s mandatory reporting laws for sexual abuse.

The footage shows Lila Rose, a UCLA student journalist and president of right-to-life advocacy group Live Action, posing as a 13-year-old girl. In an appointment with a Planned Parenthood nurse, Rose says she has been impregnated by a 31-year-old man, a clear case of child molestation under Indiana state law.

On tape, the nurse acknowledges her responsibility to report the abuse, but assures Rose she will not. The nurse says, “I am supposed to report to Child Protective Services,” but tells Rose, “Okay, I didn’t hear the age [of the 31-year-old]. I don’t want to know the age.”

She then instructs Rose how to obtain a secret abortion by crossing state lines in order to avoid Indiana’s parental consent law. The nurse also coaches Rose to cover for the 31-year-old man by saying he is only 14. She says, “You’ve seen him around, you know he’s 14, he’s in your grade and whatever. You know what I mean.”

Indiana Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of 13-year Old

This is simply more evidence that abortion is the sacrament of radical feminism--the love of death, and especially the death of infant children. Who can deny that there is something deeply spiritually broken & perverse in the American culture of death? And our president elect is in bed with these folks.

Read the full article here.

God as He is revealed in Jesus of Nazareth

"The purpose of Deuteronomy is not to posit the singularity of deity, but to define the character of deity. God is God as revealed in Yahweh....

"In the dialogue between Christians and those of other faiths, there is a temptation to regard Jesus as simply the founder of Christianity in a way that cuts him loose from his deep roots in the Hebrew scriptures. Both in his own understanding of his mission, and in the interpretation of his identity and significance by his immediate followers in the NT church, Jesus shared in the uniqueness of Israel and in the uniqueness of Yahweh, the God of Israel. The historical particularity and redemptive character of OT monotheism coincide in the person of Jesus. It is not enough to acclaim merely the unique power of Jesus' life, or insights, or teaching, or example. The NT witness is that in Jesus the mission of Israel was accomplished (as the gospel went to the nations in fulfillment of the promise to Abraham) and that in Jesus Yahweh himself has been encountered in human life.

"God is God as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth."

~Christopher Wright, Deuteronomy, 10-11

Couple waits until marriage for that first kiss....

From FOXNews:

CHICAGO — Won't kiss on the first date? How about waiting until marriage?

Chicagoans Melody LaLuz, 28, and Claudaniel Fabien, 30, shared their first kiss Saturday at the altar. The two teach abstinence at the city's public schools and practiced what they preached to their teenage students.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the couple had never kissed and that they had never been alone together in a house.

A friend of LaLuz says wedding guests cheered and stomped during the two-minute smooch.

LaLuz and Fabien say they have no worries about how they will spend their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

Two thoughts. Okay three:
1. Why is this news?

2. Two-minute smooch...awesome.

3. I'm glad that they had a true honeymoon. How many don't? Considering #1, I'd bet lots.

America produces young liars, cheaters, & stealers...

According to this report from Breitbart.com,

American teenagers lie, steal and cheat more at "alarming rates," a study of nearly 30,000 high school students concluded Monday.

The attitudes and conduct of some 29,760 high school students across the United States "doesn't bode well for the future when these youngsters become the next generation's politicians and parents, cops and corporate executives, and journalists and generals," the non-profit Josephson Institute said.

Hmmm, I wonder how this could be possible.

Why don't we like the OT?

My favorite OT prof at Reformed Theological Seminary was Dr. Ralph Davis. He has a great article asking, "Why is the OT shut out of the Church?"

...the Old Testament is good bit like Jephthah the Gileadite in Judges 11:1-3. His brothers so much as booted him out of their father's household because of his illegitimate birth. That's the way it is with the Old Testament in much of the contemporary church. The church seems to feel that it's okay if the Old Testaments stays in the land of Tob with Jephthah, but let's not even give it the status of step-testament in the household of faith.

He then examines a handful of reasons why this is the case, including scholarly barrenness, evangelical sloppiness, superficial assumptions, hermenuetical intimidation, & spiritual deficiency.

He concludes: "I simply wonder if a good bit of our 'problem' with the OT might be a heart problem." And of course it is, and our only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the climax of the hope of the OT.

Read the whole article here at Reformation 21.

Dr. Davis' commentaries on the OT historical books are simply to die for. He evidences a pastor's heart & a scholar's mind. Great for devotional reading, further study, or even family reading, your investment will be richly rewarded.

Spain now joins US in the leading cause of death

LifeSite News reports:

Abortion is now the number one cause of death in Spain, and represents the most common type of violence against women in the formerly Catholic country, according to a new report by the international Institute for Family Policy (IPF).

The report, which was issued on the International Day of Violence Against Women, notes that Spain has one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe, allowing women to kill their unborn child for "psychological" reasons at any time during their pregnancy....

Although purely elective abortions are not technically legal under Spanish law, the vast majority (97%) were undertaken due to a purported psychological or physical risk to the mother.

[HT: STR]

But what about the US? What is the leading cause of death here?

click to enlarge

But, then, you knew that, right?

[source]

And for readers of this blog, you know that Obama has promised to do everything in his power to make it easier for women to terminate their babies for any and every reason by enacting the so-called, "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA).

Right now, there are a number of common sense restrictions enacted by the states (that is, by us) such as informed consent, mandatory waiting periods, and parental consent:



[source: wiki]

Obama's FOCA will do away with all of these.

But does anyone care?

What does this say about us?

Have you heard about this tragedy? What does this say about us as humans? Stuff like this makes me embarrassed by the human race.

NEW YORK (AP) - Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down....

Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the employee, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion....

Damour, 34, of Queens, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, where she and the baby were reported to be OK, said police Sgt. Anthony Repalone.

Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling 'I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."