More claiming to be wise...

...are becoming fools!

God help us! The fact that there are men who would not only do these things but give approval to those who do them brings us back to Pauls antidote: the Gospel! It is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe! Faith truly comes by hearing the words of Christ!

Let's throw His words today!

For more commentary go to Dr. Mohler's article.

Claiming to be wise...

They became fools.

This article displays the brutal coldness of a culture that tries to justify its darkness by removing the evidence. It turns out that premarital sex isn't bad: getting pregnant is bad. The individuals who are 'consenting' to sin are innocent, it is the baby who is condemned.

In this Timesonline article doctors are horrified at the potential for the fetus (read unborn child) to be born 'alive'!!!! Oh the horror! These individuals are not concerned for the well-being of their youngest patients but rather they are concerned with their own legal status. One of the learders of the study said:

“If a baby is born alive following a failed abortion and then dies (because of lack of care), you could potentially be charged with murder,” said Shantala Vadeyar, a consultant obstetrician at South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust, who led the study.

"Because of lack of CARE!!!" Lack of care!!!! What have we come to? Why can't we point out the fact that it is specificallly because of intentional lack of care in the first place that kills the child in the womb? Why not look at the logic behind the murder charge also. Murder is killing another human being. What makes the womb a legal-free zone? If the babies are in the womb then mommy gets a murder for free card but if that same baby is transferred outside the womb it becomes murder... I don't get it!

The article points out that at least 50 babies are unsucessfully aborted per year! That means that there are at least 50 children that demonstrate the truth that abortion kills!

The article clearly speaks of using drugs to kill the fetus prior to the delivery. How can we use this language and still think that this is some arbitrary medical procedure?

These doctors have exchanged the glory of the Immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles! Oh Lord, have mercy on us and our children!

I've been called all kinds of things before but...

I haven't been punched... yet!

BAZAAAMM! KAAPPOWWEEEE!

This story just about knocked me down. Imagine preaching a sermon on forgiveness and during the invitation getting knocked out!

I imagine that most pastors have horror stories to tell. Amy and I got an extra helping of horror stories last year. I was called 'Hitler' and 'Nazi' and... well I would rather keep this blog rated 'G' but I have yet to be physically accosted during a church service. I have been heckled and interupted. I have been walked out on. The gossip line has burned redhot with lies and juicy 'morsels' but not punched in the eye!

And the preacher went on with the invitation and lived out the sermon! You can even watch the video!

What do you think? Has anything like this happened to you?

Oh Lord... Come quickly!

We are so soft.

We are too soft.

I had a pastor tell me one time that the churches in America would never be strong until we began to be persecuted. He would point to the strength of the Korean, Chinese, and Middle Eastern Christians as proof. What he meant was that persecution forces the church to grow strong because it weeds out the false converts and demonstrates the reality of what faith in Christ looks like.

I wonder, though, if he got it backwards. It seems to me that it is the strong faith that brings the persecution. If we just go through the motions and follow some prescribed 'ritual' then we don't bother anyone. It's when our 'faith' causes us to buck the system, whatever that system might be (friendship, family, government), that brings about persecution.

We certainly ought to look to Christ and evaluate our own faith. Remember it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God but the doers of the law who will be justified (Romans 2:13). God expects us to 'be' faithful.

When I am faced with the faith of these Koreans, and many, many like them I realize that I have no comprehension of what real 'doing' looks like.

Why not?

Because of the cost. It is spelled out for them... death; gruesome, hateful, painful, humiliating death.

What is it for me? Rejection? Discomfort? Distraction?

Oh that I would have more faith in the truth of Christ! Oh that I would grasp His Powerful Word like that! Give us the strength and the opportunity to 'do' what we 'hear'!

SDG

What Cross?

The hypocrisy is palpable!

Dr. Moore has drawn my attention to this article. It seems as if Planned Parenthood is returning to one of their original game plans in order to promote their message of hate and murder. In the late 1930's through the early 1940's and into the 1950's, Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, used this same strategy to infiltrate the African American communities with her message of economic freedom and deliverance. How did she spread her message? She recruited African American ministers! She turned to those individuals who had the respect of the community and were identified with the Gospel of Christ to throw her words of destruction and racism under the guise of God. How pathetic. How dastardly! How much easier will it be for her minions to do the same thing today?

This is yet another reminder that we must be very careful to guard what has been entrusted to us and to never let our culture redefine truth for us: the cross is a symbol of the suffering and pain of Christ on behalf of His children and yet the Nazi's used it as a tool to destroy a nation.

Let's stand for those who cannot speak for themselves!

Dr. Rogers... Thank you

Everytime I read a discussion about Dr. Rogers and his attacks on Calvinism I cannot help but remember his influence on me at a crucial time in my walk with Christ. His focus on the inerrancy of the Scripture and His emphasis on God and His powerful sovereignty over everything fed my desire to know more of His Word and to bring Him glory.

While I never understood his aggression towards the Doctrines of Grace I will always remember his bold and powerful voice proclaiming Christ to me at a time when I needed it more than anything!

And God Cares For Them!

Is the life of a little bird worth a world record? Is the wage of the sin of knocking down 23,000 dominoes, death?

This news piece stood out to me today because I have been reading Matthew 10 and here we have another example of the worth of a little sparrow.

Jesus said in verses 29-31 that "are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Such an insignificant, pathetic bird and yet God still pays attention to it. Luke 12:6 says that this bird will not be forgotten by God.

Without getting too involved in this particular situation let's look at how Sovereign God is. Even this terribly worthless bird isn't forgotten by God. What other things are there that He is not forgetting?

Please pay attention today. Those insignificant things that happen, those attitudes and actions that we give no acknowledgement to... could be that one thing that God cares more for than we can imagine. That little child could be our means of ministering to Christ (Matthew 18:5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me..."). That dirty stranger could be an angel (Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.)

God's Cause in Our Service

I've been writing a paper on missions in a local church setting, and I came across this prayer about God's cause in our service while reading this book. What an amazing vision of service. This is the attitude that should be present when we go and to serve the Lord:

Sovereign God,
Thy cause, not my own, engages my heart,
And I appeal to thee with greatest freedom
To set up thy kingdom in every place where Satan reigns;
Glorify thyself and I shall rejoice,
For to bring honour to thy name is my sole desire.
O that all men might love and praise thee,
That thou mightest have all glory from the intelligent world!

In This World You Will Face Tribulation!

Beware before you click the link above. I am sitting here at my desk, so safe and secure. I have preached the Gospel of God without flinching and with passion but have I really counted the cost?

This link is of a young lady who was one of three Christians beheaded last month by Indonesian Muslims. Please be warned... It is grotesque.

Poor girl... more so... poor killers!

Father save their souls!

I wonder, though, if I ought to consider it differently. It is a picture of the value of knowing Christ! What a Worthy LORD!

Fall in McMinnville

"Well Dad, you're not as young as you used to be!" These words followed me down into the water as I tumbled off of the rock I had tried to land on. Oh... the PAIN!

There I was, standing on top of a boulder behind our house, with the older four children having a great time jumping from rock to rock. It was beautiful outside on a Sunday afternoon. I love exploring with my children and we were having a blast.

We were trying to out do each other and I guess we all know that I am the oldest child in our family! There it was. A jump that was out of their reach. If I could do it I would forever be their hero! So I said: "Hey... look at this. Let's jump over this pool of water!" Of course they were chicken! I, on the other hand, am not! So, for the sake of theatrics, I started to make fun of them. "Oh NO! It is too far! I sure hope I can make it!"

Long story short... I did make it! I landed 12 feet away and 7 feet down on the top side of the rock!

What I didn't realize (because pride goes before destruction and my pride was long gone!) was that the top of the rock, under the leaves that I had my son wipe off, was SLICK! Did I mention that it was so slippery? WOW! As my feet flew to the side and my hip bone approached the rock formation I just knew it was not going to feel very good.

Then...

PAIN!!!!!!

As I reached behind me to keep from being totally submerged in the murky, stagnant, yucky water I heard Spencer say "you aren't as young as you used to be" and I heard my oldest daughter chuckle.

Where do these children get the gall? They were so... I don't know... proud...

They had better watch out. Like father like son...

Two things for them to remember:

Pride goes before destruction... and...

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree (I just hope I am there to watch them and chuckle myself!)

Fall in the Smokey Mountains

This past weekend in the Smokey Mountains was amazing! As you can see, Fall was in full bloom, and we were able to see a lot of God's beautiful creation painted in gorgeous colors. On Saturday morning my wife and I hiked by the Little River, and we were faced again and again with the majesty of God in His world. Well, you can see some of the pictures. We took about 100 or so! At one point, when I was doing a little fly fishing (yes, I caught a fish), and my wife was sitting on a rock reading, I was filled with an overflowing sense of awe and wonder at the glory of God, and this Isaac Watts' hymn came to mind.

I sing the mighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command,
And all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food,
He formed the creatures with His word,
And then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed,
Where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below,
But makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne;
Creatures that borrow life from Thee
Are subject to Thy care;
There’s not a place where we can flee,
But God is present there.

The Gaping Hole We have left

After reading this article I am left speechless. All I can say is that there is a great need for missionaries to go to these places where the Western World has left such a gaping hole in their passing for these "cargo cults." Wow.

Mel Gibson's Stunt Double for the new film

Well here we have it... Mel Gibson isn't preparing for some archaic movie set in South America. He is producing a modern day Muslim Passion starring Gibson as Saddam!

Do We Really Believe This?

John 10:9 says that "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture."

Read that again.

Jesus says that He is the exclusive door to real life. He says that the individual who enters will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture! What does this mean?

I think I understand the 'saved' part. He is the Shepherd and He will save me from the dangers that assault me, condemn me, destroy me: i.e. my sin and my sinfullness.

I think I understand the 'finding pasture' part. He provides for His sheep: i.e. the fruit of the Spirit, the truth of our position, the assurance of His presence.

Most of us can get this structure: Christ saves us and He provides for us. I guess that is why the middle part throws me for a loop. What I mean is that it seems to be out of touch with the 'common' grasp of evangelism. "Get them saved and life will be fine" but...

... what about the 'going in and out' part? It seems to me that Christ is adding a tremendous segment to my comprehension of salvation. He doesn't say that the destiny is on the other side of the door! The destiny is the door. Certainly He says whoever enters by me. That speaks of a destiny but then he goes on to speak of exiting back through the door: going in and out! This going in and out is where the pasture is.

Our lives are supposed to consist of the constant travel through Christ! That is our salvation! That is our providence! He is our way! He is to be the direction of our thoughts. He is to be the activity of our minds. He is to be the course of our day!

His Sheep hear His voice and follow Him!

Can You Turn it Down a Little? We're Here to Meet God.

In finishing the book on worship I was reading, I found a quote that I thought made a lot of sense. This whole book analyzes and critiques many of the practices that have become commonplace in worship settings today. I thought that this observation on silence in a worship service was very perceptive:

For many, silence in a worship service is uncomfortable and is to be avoided, so little time is ever given for silent reflection. We may never know what we are missing because we do not take seriously this matter of getting quiet before the Lord so we can reflect upon what He is saying to us.

Okay. Well let's all take a few quiet minutes to reflect on this....just kidding. But seriously, it's not hard at all to imagine the reactions of people in the congregation when there is suddenly no sound at all. Perhaps you can even remember some times like this. It's uncomfortable. It's pervasive, and it forces us to stop hiding in the activities that are going on. In culture today, there are always sounds, pictures, music and it's leaping out at us. We can't handle silence. We get fidgety, and look around to see if someone is going to do something.

We can't handle the fact that the person sitting next to us on the pew might be able to hear us breathing, or moving around. That's too intimate. Moreover, we can't handle coming to God corporately without saying anything. It's too intimidating. No, we would rather be doing doing doing, so that we don't have to consider the fact that we can't do enough. We fill all our time with activity, and never allow time to reflect on the amazing, unfathomable God we are worshipping. We would rather sing him another song, like the four we just sang, because that's more comfortable. We're not faced with our sin, and our insignificance when there's all this noise. But when the noise is gone, and we are simply sitting silently, surrounded by other worshippers who are focusing on the One True God, we are confronted with the greatness of the One we serve. We look for Him in the noise because that's in our comfort zone. We forget that we must meet Him in the stillness and the silence as well.

In those quiet moments together, with thoughts on worshipping God, we can often recognize Him in ways that are impossible when we are being bombarded with this and that. Let's not forget to take time this week to simply be still, quiet, and relish that He is God.