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Hey all!
This video was shared with me and I found it extremely touching, edifying and thought provoking, so naturally I would like to share it with my readers. :-)
God bless and veritas supra omnis!
Hello all!
Sadly for me, it's been awhile since I've posted due to more than a little busyness with school, work, family, and such. I don't have time now for a proper post either, but I wanted to pass along an article by Al Mohler that I believe is well worth reading concerning shocking revelations of abortions terminating IVF pregnancies. It certainly provokes thought. This passage in particular jumps out at me:
"... — on average, 80 British women each year abort their babies after having conceived them through the ordeal of IVF treatments. The British government, along with the British public, seems to be outraged at this discovery, made possible through the nation’s freedom of information rules. But, what is the basis of the outrage?
The Times [London] reported on June 6, 2010 that the discovery has shocked many in the medical community, but not all who are abortion providers. Professor Bill Ledger, a member of Britain’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, pointed to the obvious: “These women can’t be surprised to be pregnant; you can’t have an IVF pregnancy by accident.”"
Hello all!
Kevin DeYoung and Ligonier Ministries have published an excellent article titled "The Glory of Plodding". In it, author Kevin DeYoung has wise words for "revolutionary" Christians regarding the necessity of a willingness to be "usual" and "plodding".
My favorite portion of the article is probably the following:
My generation in particular is prone to radicalism without followthrough. We have dreams of changing the world, and the world should take notice accordingly. But we’ve not proved faithful in much of anything yet. We haven’t held a steady job or raised godly kids or done our time in VBS or, in some cases, even moved off the parental dole. We want global change and expect a few more dollars to the ONE campaign or Habitat for Humanity chapter to just about wrap things up. What the church and the world needs, we imagine, is for us to be another Bono — Christian, but more spiritual than religious and more into social justice than the church. As great as it is that Bono is using his fame for some noble purpose, I just don’t believe that the happy future of the church, or the world for that matter, rests on our ability to raise up a million more Bonos (as at least one author suggests). With all due respect, what’s harder: to be an idolized rock star who travels around the world touting good causes and chiding governments for their lack of foreign aid, or to be a line worker at GM with four kids and a mortgage, who tithes to his church, sings in the choir every week, serves on the school board, and supports a Christian relief agency and a few missionaries from his disposable income?
Ray Ortlund has some excellent words regarding relationships. They are simple insights, but very true and powerful, I believe. :-)
Sevan Ways We Can Guard and Repair Our Relationships
1. We can rejoice in one another, because the Lord rejoices in us.
Psalm 16:3 sets the tone: “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” There is excellence to admire in every Christian.
2. We can create an environment of trust rather than negative scrutiny.
1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.” Human eyes are not competent to judge human hearts.
3. We can judge ourselves, even as we give each other the benefit of the doubt.
Matthew 7:5 says, “First take the log out of your own eye.”
4. If a problem must be addressed, we can talk to, not about. Gossip destroys.
Matthew 18:15 says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” James 1:26 says, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”
5. If a problem must be addressed, we can avoid blanket statements but identify factual speciļ¬cs, offer a positive path forward and preserve everyone’s dignity.
“You are ___________” is too absolute to be fair. It leaves a person with no freedom to improve. Better to say, “In this situation, when you _____________, that set us back. It would be helpful if, in the future, you would ______________. What do you think? And is there anything I can do that might help?”
6. We can always extend kindness.
Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another.” The word “kind” is used in Matthew 11:30when Jesus says, “My yoke is easy.” Kindness asks, “How can I make this situation as easy for the other person as possible? How can I avoid embarrassing this person? How can I make a positive response as easy as it can be?”
7. When we do wrong one another, we can say to the person harmed, “I was wrong. I am sorry. It won’t happen again. Is there anything I could do now that might make a positive difference?”
Where a wrong has been done, as the Bible defines wrong, an apology heals and helps.
“Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” Genesis 33:4
If you haven't seen this before then it's worth watching, if for no other reason than to see evidence of the dramatic change in perspective "Jane Roe" has gone through. It's amazing what a difference God and time can make in a person’s life.
God bless and veritas supra omnis!
Hey all!
I ran across a very thought provoking article from RELEVANT Magazine that I would like to pass on to you. Instead of commenting on it myself I'll just let the article do the talking as I don't have anything to add on top of it. I would like to clarify that I view the article as "food for thought" as much as anything else and by sharing it I'm not saying I agree with it on all points. I think it is asking the right questions, though, thus my reason for passing it on.
RELEVANT Magazine - The Dangers of Emotional Pornography
Of course, if any readers have a comment to make or a thought to share I'd be more than happy to hear it. :-)
God bless and veritas supra omnis!
Hey all,
It is with deep sadness that I ask you to pray for the protection of the unborn in our country, particularly now that the largest abortion clinic in the western hemisphere opened today in Houston Texas.
The Clinic is a "78,000 square foot facility that will include a surgical wing equipped to provide late-term abortions. It’s an abortion super center,” Lou Engle, founder of the pro-life group The Call to Conscience, which is organizing the rally, told CNSNews.com.
In a public statement from Planned Parenthood: "There is an increasing need for affordable health care in Houston and Harris County because we have more uninsured residents than any other area in the nation," Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, Inc., said in a statement."
According to this article from cbn.com: "In public statements, Planned Parenthood downplayed its abortion services at the new center. It's a common theme, one that was revealed in a CBN News interview last year with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.
"At Planned Parenthood, we see 3 million patients a year," Richards said. "Ninety-seven percent of the health care is preventative."
However, the money trail shows that abortion, while comprising a small 3 percent of overall services, provides a big chunk of revenue. Jim Sedlak of the American Life League analyzed a recent Planned Parenthood annual report. He found abortions made up 37 percent of clinic income.
"It is the highest-priced item they sell," Sedlak noted."
According former Planned Parenthood Director, Abby Johnson, "They are going to be charging anywhere from $500 to $2,500 per abortion procedure," she explained. "So it's a very, very lucrative part of their business and that's really what keeps them afloat."
It's difficult to estimate how much increase in abortion a clinic of this sort would lead to, but I think it's safe to say the increase will be significant. Please pray that God would protect the unborn, that the church in America would step up and step out to support and love mothers who need support and love, and that this new clinic would wither and die a speedy death.
God bless and veritas supra omnis!
Hello all!
I just happened to discover that hulu.com has added the video version of "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel to their selection and would like to pass that along to all of you.
I thought about imbedding the video in my blog, but then thought it was probably better to just link it. :-)
The Case for Christ
If you aren't familiar with The Case for Christ then you might be interested in clicking on this link to read a little about it here.
More detailed reviews of the book are readily available through a simply Google search. I highly recommend both the book and the video. The book has more detail in it, but the video might be a better introduction to apologetics than the book.
God bless and veritas supra omnis!
Hello all!
I “randomly” ran across the following passage of scripture (while looking for a different passage for school) and wanted to share it with y’all. This passage is Ecclesiastes 7:20-22. It says:
“Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you. For you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.” (NASB)
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 "When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 "So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.'
27 "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
28 "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.'
29 "So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.'
30 "But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
31 "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 "Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?'
34"And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
35" My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."
Hello all!
Today, while reading (and watching) some material covering questions of whether President Obama has been as transparent as he promised during his campaign, I was struck by a few things that I would like to “throw” out for y’all to take or leave. :-)
Without getting into all the nitty-gritty details of the charges and response (which I will admit I am not as familiar with as I would like to be) I believe that during the campaign Senator Obama made more than a few rash vows, and as a result I think the accusations have a lot of merit. However, with that said, I also can easily understand and agree to the statement made by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs that, “Not everything the President does is for the cameras and for the press.”
To my thinking, the real problem here is not that the President isn’t allowing the media to cover all the things they want to cover, or think should be covered, -- the real problem is/was the rashness of the vows made by Senator Obama on the campaign trail. As a Christian, I believe that the Bible clearly teaches that a rashly made oath is foolishness. Leviticus 5:4-5 clearly teaches that rashly making an oath, be it for a good purpose or with a good intent, is a sin:
“Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good in whatever matter a man may speak thoughtlessly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty in one of these. So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned.”
Proverbs 20: 25 says…“It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!” and after the vows to make inquiry.”
I believe that the promises made by Senator Obama were in large part good and I understand that in a campaign you are trying to paint a best case picture of what your administration would be and would do. However, Senator Obama should have more prudently and/or thoroughly considered the ramifications of his rash vows and considered whether the promises made by 'Senator Obama' could be upheld by 'President Obama'. His promises of transparency were clearly more than could have or should have been reasonably promised. Perhaps the problem is that President Obama has never differentiated between the things that should require transparency, the things that ought to be kept and done out of the view of the public and simply promised over-arching transparency in general. I can see this being the case, but at the very least the President created an impression (purposely, I assume) and never clarified or defined the exact intent and extent of his stated purpose and goals.
Probably no segment of our society demonstrates the ease and carelessness with which rash promises are made (and broken) more than the political world. As Christians, it is our responsibility to clearly advocate for integrity and prudence in vow making and then to hold our elected officials to their word. Most importantly though, it is up to us, in accordance with God's word, to demonstrate the integrity and prudence in our own lives that we expect of people around us and representing us.
God bless and veritas supra omnis!
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