Memory by Moleskine - A Project to Memorize Philippians by Easter

I am thankful to Tim Brister for his efforts to promote Bible memorization within the Body of Christ.  His project is called P2R - or, Partnering to Remember.  The goal of this project is "to memorize the entire book of Philippians by Easter Sunday through partnering with other believers using the memory moleskine."  

I am excited to be a part of this.  If you would like to take part as well, you can get your Moleskine journal here.   Then download the PDF from Tim's site here.  The finished product looks something like this:

Just imagine thousands of believers with Philippians running through their heads and rolling off of their lips for the next four months (and for some time after that too!).  I am hopeful that this effort will bring about the edification, encouragement, and advancement of God's Kingdom.  Thanks again Tim.

Free Kindle Book - Sinclair Furgeson's In Christ Alone

Here is a free Kindle book for today!  Sinclair Furgeson writes about living the gospel centered life.

Just click here for the book!

It's No Sacrifice at All

I have a growing appreciation for those who can express thoughts, using clear words and simple sentences.  Dorothy Sayers, in her book Letters to a Diminished Church, has made a wonderful observation; and she has communicated it well.  Its about love and sacrifice.  She writes:

Sacrifice is what it looks like to other people, but to that-which-loves I think it does not appear so.  When one really cares, the self is forgotten, and the sacrifice becomes only a part of the activity.  Ask yourself: if there is something you supremely want to do, do you count as self-sacrifice the difficulties encountered or the other possible activities cast aside?  You do not.  The time when you deliberately say, "I must sacrifice this, that, or the other" is when you do not supremely desire the end in view.  At such times you are doing your duty, and that is admirable, but it is not love.  But as soon as your duty becomes your love the self-sacrifice is taken for granted, and, whatever the world calls it, you call it so no longer.


This has been a good and easy read so far.  Though I do not completely agree with all of her theology, I have found myself challenged, convicted and encouraged by much of what she has to say.  I would recommend this book to anyone looking to grow in their Christian life.

Don't Love Stuff

Some of my old seminary classmates posted this video on their Facebook page.  I watched, and I responded the same way they did...with conviction.

The Destructive Nature of Individualism

I heard a guy once talking about how, less than a few decades ago, families had one radio in the living room where, at night, they would gather and listen together.  As time passed, that radio was replaced by the television, which, if watched alone, became rather inconvenient.  Remote controls were not around then; therefore, you watched with others in hopes that they would get up to turn the channel.  I remember being the "remote" as the youngest of the family.  

As televisions became more advanced (with the invention of remote controls) and affordable, homes now had multiple televisions in multiple rooms.  Couples, who used to talk at night, now found themselves watching a guy talking on the Tonight Show.  The kids were snuggled in their rooms as well, watching whatever.

Then, we went from just a few channels on those televisions (I remember having channels 3 through 13), to having well over one hundred.  This served as a magnet (and still does), drawing children from the games of the streets and back yards, to their rooms in the middle of the day.  

Now television is taking the back seat to the handheld device.  iPhones have taken our "entertainment centers" from the living room to our palms.  We can watch whatever wherever we go.  All we need is service and headphones.  The historical progression from very communal activities to very individualistic activity is alarming.  The tendencies are obvious.  We want what we want, and we don't want people to get in the way - that is, unless we allow them to get in the way.

My main point is simple.  Individualism has skewed the way we understand both God's saving and sanctifying purposes, as well as sin's purposes to divide and destroy us.  Sin blinds us so that we cannot see past our own appetites (individualism), nor can we see how our appetites are intrinsically tied to others (community).  In the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmond, being so enslaved to his appetite to the Witch's turkish delight, cannot see how the Wich means to get at his siblings as well - through his appetite!

We think our sin only affects us, and, if we can handle the repercussions, we have every right to indulge.  This is individualisms curse.  Edmond alone craves the turkish delight, but, in the craving of his belly, there is the killing of his siblings.

Individualism also blinds us to our inabilities to kill our sins.  It traps us into thinking we can conquer it alone.  And it causes us to neglect the use of God's primary means of murdering sin - His Church.  By the Father's decree, and through the Son's mediation, and by the Spirit's power, we must confess how our sins have affected others (chiefly God Himself - Ps.51).  From there we embrace Christ by faith.  Now, in communion with God, we are afforded a wonderful community, who is both affected by our sin, but who also shows us what redemptive love looks like.  The community we hurt becomes the community that heals us.

Poem Written by a Wife Devastated by her Husband's Porn.

Bonhoeffer once said that there is no sin so secret that does not affect someone else.  I believe what he said.  I believe it is Biblical.  And I also believe that there are many wives who are being devastated by their husband's addiction to porn.  This poem was written in a comment to one of Tim Challies' posts on the subject.

Men, we have to read this.  We have to understand that what we do in secret affects those who love us very much.  I have to say that these words, coming from this perspective, are much needed in a world where women are constantly viewed and postured as condoning pornographic habits.

Here is the poem:

I Looked For Love in Your Eyes

I saved my best for you.
Other girls may have given themselves away,
But I believed in the dream.
A husband, a wife, united as one forever.

Nervous, first time, needing assurance of your love,
I looked for it in your eyes
Mere inches from mine.
But what I saw made my soul run and hide.

Gone was the tenderness I’d come to know
I saw a stranger, cold and hard
Distant, evil, revolting.
I looked for love in your eyes
And my soul wept.

Who am I that you cannot make love to me?
Why do I feel as if I’m not even here?
I don’t matter.
I’m a prop in a filthy play.
Not an object of tender devotion.

Where are you?

Years pass
But the hardness in your eyes does not.
You think I’m cold
But how can I warm to eyes that are making hate to someone else
Instead of making love to me?

I know where you are.
I’ve seen the pictures.
I know now what it takes to turn you on.
Women…people like me
Tortured, humiliated, hated, used
Discarded.
Images burned into your brain.
How could you think they would not show in your eyes?

Did you ever imagine,
The first time you picked up a dirty picture
That you were dooming all intimacy between us
Shipwrecking your marriage
Breaking the heart of a wife you wouldn’t meet for many years?

If it stopped here, I could bear it.
But you brought the evil into our home
And our little boys found it.
Six and eight years old.
I heard them laughing, I found them ogling.

Hands bound, mouth gagged.
Fisheye photo, contorting reality
Distorting the woman into exaggerated breasts.
The haunted eyes, windows of a tormented soul
Warped by the lens into the background,
Because souls don’t matter, only bodies do
To men who consume them.

Little boys
My little boys
Laughing and ogling the sexual torture
Of a woman, a woman like me.
Someone like me.

An image burned into their brains.

Will their wives’ souls have to run and hide like mine does?
When does it end?

I can tell you this. It has not ended in your soul.
It has eaten you up. It is cancer.
Do you think you can feed on a diet of hatred
And come out of your locked room to love?

You say the words, but love has no meaning in your mouth
When hatred rules in your heart.
Your cruelty has eaten up every vestige of the man
I thought I was marrying.
Did you ever dream it would so consume you
That your wife and children would live in fear of your rage?

That is what you have become
Feeding your soul on poison.

I’ve never used porn.
But it has devastated my marriage, my family, my world.

Was it worth it?

You can read the rest of the article here.

Free Kindle Book - What's So Great About the Doctrine's of Grace? by Phillips

I'm not really sure how long these things last, but for now, this book (in its kindle format) is free on Amazon.  Though I have not read this book - I do recommend reading Phillips.  You can learn more about him here.

Here is the link to the free version.  ENJOY!  Oh yeah, thanks Nathan for posting this!

Renouncing It All, By the Grace of a Great God

On the fourth day of Christmas, my wife gave to me, four hours to be spent just for me.  This was an answer to prayer.  I love to get away, with no vocational agenda, to just read, think, and write.  Thanks babe.

My hours, as they passed, were filled with an overarching message.  In Luke's gospel, chapter 14, I read slowly and thoughtfully about the Parable of the Wedding Feast, where the focus of the Kingdom is much different than that of the world.  The low are exalted.  The high are made low.

Then I read the Parable of the Great Banquet.  I was overwhelmed with inner questions like, "Am I supposed to take this passage seriously?  Am I really supposed to only invite the "poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind"?  And as I continued, it was as if Christ knew what I'd be thinking.  The answers became clearer.  Those who are not poor, crippled, lame or blind, are more inclined to decline the invitation than to accept it.  Therefore, go to those who will accept it.  The King desires a house that is full, not empty.

I considered ending my devotions there; but I didn't.  I continued to read the next section...The Cost of Discipleship.  Again, Christ knew what I (the reader) would be thinking.  How could I possibly give my resources for the poor, crippled, lame and/or blind?  This life of discipleshwill cost.  It will cost money, time, safety, comfort and security.  

But the items on this list did not concern me as much as something else.  Christ said, "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."  I didn't immediately think that I had to sell all of my possessions.  I did, however, know almost instantly, that I had to give up everything I had - that is, everything in my life that gives me purpose, identity, comfort, security, and stability; everything, that is not Christ himself.  Christ is calling me, again, to die.

So I took a break from reading.  I ventured, as many "breakers" do, to Facebook.  My friend Shelby Pearce posted this video (Thank you Shelby).  I watched it.  My break turned into no break at all; but a continuation of Christ speaking to me.  If you have 8 minutes, I would recommend watching.

What this post is NOT, is another Christian getting motivated (at least for a little while) to do world missions.  I'm not getting on a "Let's heal poverty" soapbox.  I'm simply sharing my conviction.  I am attempting to walk in light.  I asked myself after watching this video why it is that I am more indifferent than I ought to be.  The answer, again, according to His faithfulness, was clear.

Inviting the poor, lame, crippled, and blind to the Great Banquet is a great work.  No one denies that.  I surely don't.  But experientially speaking, I have denied it.  Why?  Because, I have been confused (and yes, sinful) about what greatness truly is - or, what a makes a work truly great.  

I am convicted that my definition of greatness has been based solely on myself and what I could do for myself.  I thought in order for a work to be great, a great person had to do it.  The "great ones" are doing great things.  I'm not a great one; therefore, my works are not great.  This was really me thinking to highly of myself.

I also thought that in order for a work to be great, it had to be done for a great person (or great number of people).  If I could not get masses involved or affected by the work - it was not a great work.  If it doesn't become a movement, I don't want to do it.  This, again, was thinking too highly of myself.  I was doing the work for myself.

In reality, however, I have learned today that a great work is a work done by small people, for small people, unto a Great Savior.  In this I understand that I am small.  In this I understand that I am called to reach small people in small numbers - so that, in reaching one small person, if done unto Christ, it is a great work.

My prayers for myself and for my family are as follows.  I pray that I (and those in my family - again, I'm starting small!) would reach one small person with the gospel of my great God's grace.  That I would love a small person by showing them the love of my great Christ.  I am so thankful that Christ, saved me - and today, continues to sanctify me, by showing me how small I really am.  He renounced all that He had to set me free to renounce all that I have.  

Overview of Abortion - Warning. This is Graphic.

I believe in the efforts of organizations like Abort73.com to create a movement to end abortion.  This video is found on the front page of their site, where it can be seen without certain images being blocked out.  I would suggest watching the version below and then navigating to the site (www.abort73.com) to see the unrestricted version.

I will warn you.  Seeing the broken body of an 11-week old fetus (unborn baby) is disturbing and emotion provoking.  I do, however, think it is necessary so that we know what we are dealing with.  It has changed me.  Watch, pray, repent, and act to see abortion aborted from our world's womb.

Evolution is Not a Scientific Theory

In his lecture series, Defending the Christian Worldview Against All Speculation, the late Dr. Greg Bahnsen, critiques the evolutionary worldview.  In my opinion, this lecture series is a must have for all who desire to defend the faith; but this lecture in particular gives a death-blow to those who use evolution as a means to disprove Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God…”  Most of what follows will be my notes from the lecture.  I will add a few comments, but the points themselves were made by Bahnsen. 

Those who embrace the theory of evolution will tell you that you cannot trust the Bible b/c it teaches creation.  They say that we now know from science that man came from the evolutionary process, a process that took place over billions and billions of years.

Proponents of the theory have been very evangelistic and aggressive - inserting their agenda into the culture; especially in the educational system.  Many say that they only want their children to see “both sides of the story," but that simply is not the case.  The Christian worldview is forbidden, while evolutionary theory is almost universally accepted and promoted.

The state of LA passed a law in the mid 80s that called for equal treatment of evolution and the creationist views (or what they called, “abrupt appearance”).  The evidence for evolution must be balanced with the evidence against it.  The ACLU called for a challenge of that law.  It went to the courts.  Bahnsen was called to be the expert witness in the dept of philosophy on the matter.  

He was initially hesitant, noting that the defense wanted to take the approach that the teaching of non-evolutionary origins and evolutionary origins were not religious in nature.  For them, it was all secular science. 

Bahnsen asserted that this was not true.  The teaching of origins, or anything foundational to man’s reasoning and science is  religious.  In other words, evolution and creation science are on equal footing in terms of their theoretical nature.  Evolution is not scientific and the others are religious. Whatever you want to call the Christian view - that is what the evolutionary view is as well.

Again, evolution is not a scientific theory.  That was his point.  Evolution does not have scientific credentials. It is a philosophy.  The way to refute evolution is to compare the two worldviews in a philosophical way.  

And this is where Bahnsen [and I would argue, all Christians] camped out.  As a philosophy, evolution has no scientific credentials.  There is no empirical evidence to support it.  And as a matter of fact it carries no traits of the scientific theory.  

Here are some of Bahnsen’s arguments for the previous assertion:

1.  Mathematical Arguments.  He quotes a book published in 1967 called Mathematical Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Interpretation of Evolution.  He is quick to note that it was not written by Christians, but by people who were trying to be honest with their assumptions.  The editors were Morehead and Kaplan.   In it there was an article written by Murray called Inadequacies of Neo-Darwinian Evolution as a Scientific Theory.  

Murray wrote, “It is our contention, that if the word "random" is given a serious and crucial interpretation from a probabilistic point of view, the randomness postulate is highly implausible and that an adequate scientific theory of evolution must await the discovery and elucidation of new natural laws.”  

Bahnsen comments on this point.  If you believe that evolution happened randomly, you have to look at the probabilities of things coming together to form life.  The mathematical folks did the probable work and concluded that you would need more natural laws (even new ones) in order to prove evolution. In summary, this book concludes that mathematics has made it impossible to believe in the theory of evolution.  I personally find this interesting considering the fact that many atheists embrace mathematics as the basis for certainty in their worldview. 

Bahnsen then quotes Michael Denton, who wrote Evolution, a Theory in Crisis.  Denton stated that to get a cell by chance (according to the randomness postulate) it would require at least 100 functional proteins to appear at the same time and at the same place.  The probability for each could hardly be more than 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.  When you figure that 100 of these proteins must show up a the same place and at the same time (for one cell!), the equation grows exponentially!  It is something like 1 x 10 ^-12000.

When you go to Vegas, and you are betting your money on the black jack table, you hope that your probable odds are 1/3.  1/10 is a game only a fool would play.  1/100 would be suicide.  If we take Denton’s probabilities seriously, evolution doesn’t even enter the rational map. 

Dr. Bahnsen then quotes Fred Hoil (I may have misspelled the name), from his book, Evolution From Space.  There are 2000 enzymes, so that the chance of obtaining them all in a random trial is a chance of 1 x 10 ^-40000.  

2.  Fossil Evidence.  If you look at the fossil record, life appears abruptly.  Not only this, but it appears in complex forms; and there are gaps between various living kinds.  We have hundreds of millions of fossils, and not one of those fossil traces provides an intermediary form.  Much less the "missing link" that may indicated the transition between ape-like creature and man.  

Paleontology is a great enemy of evolution.  In 1970 Lord Zuckerman wrote, Beyond the Ivory Tower, where admitted that there was, in fact, a missing link.  

Stephen Jay Gould, understands that the fossil record is an embarrassment, and has come up with the theory of Punctuated Equilibrium.  The fossil record shows equilibrium or continuity.  There is no proof of a simple form to a more complex form.  So Gould says that evolution must have taken place in short spurts.  If it did, then there would not be enough time to leave fossil remains during the evolutionary "hot" periods.  

Bahnsen responds, Gould says therefore that evolution must have taken place in such a way that there could not be evidence for the evolutionary process!  This is strikes directly at the heart of empirical evolutionistic theory. 

evolution is not believed by the professor or anyone else b/c of credentials of science.  It is philosophically implausible at best, and is embraced because of a biased view against the Christian worldview.  Now Bahnsen begins to compare the worldviews.

3.  Living Organisms.  Which worldview makes better sense out of the human eye? Or, the fact that humans have a heart and lungs that function together in order for life to take place.

Evolutionists maintain that organisms form gradually over time.  But we know that it wont do any good if the human has a heart but not lungs (or kidneys or a vascular system).  In order for one to work, you must have others with it, working in tandem..  But the theory is that the heart and all other organs must gradually develop!  How could you have a heart gradually developing if it has to have lungs in order to function at all? 

Evolutionists argue that very change in a living organism is preserved b/c of its favorable interaction with the environment - it provides some advantage for life.  Let’s use the human eye as a case in point.  Let’s say that the human eye developed over billions of years.  Take the first step of the formation of the human eye...what is that proto-eye worth to a living organism?  A fully functional eye is helpful; but not a proto-eye that is not working for sight at all.  In other words, the proto-eye, if we were consistently evolutionistic in our logic, would have been immediately dismissed as unfavorable (or useless) in its interaction with the environment.  

What about sex?  You know that human babies come through the process of intercourse, or copulation.  If we supposedly evolved in a puddle of slime, and billions of years ago our grandparents were amoebas who did not copulate.  This method of reproduction was simpler than copulation.  Not to mention that many other sorts of things multiply by cell division.  

What is it that led to the change from cell division to copulation in the reproductive process? And explain how that happened gradually!  What is the value of a partially developed genital - that will be preserved over billions of years, and will one day lead to a functional copulating device?

According to Evolutionary Theory, there was once nothing but disorder.  And then the world as we know it became ordered, and exploded.  The explosion created an ordered realm that was inorganic. So we went from disorder to order.  Now the philosopher has the right to ask, "Why did disorder become order?"  How did this ordered inorganic world begin to live?  How did this happen?  

This is contrary to every pattern of reasoning in the scientific process.  Simply (and scientifically) put, you cannot have more in the product than what you had in the cause - and if there was not life to begin with, how did life happen in the conclusion?  

That which was first living was identical.  Now we have to start getting diversity, producing varied forms of life?  What caused the diversity?  

I would like to add that no scientist goes to the lab expecting diversity in their inductive inferential conclusions.  In other words, no scientist (I would assume) experiments with two non-living things expecting to get a living thing.  No consistent scientist expects randomness in their conclusions.  This would fly in the face of scientific law.  But creation happened randomly!  How then can they provide a basis for any uniformity in their science?  They cannot.

To continue, eventually something developed that was intelligent and articulate.  What happened to make that?  And this language using life form, which did not have any morality whatsoever, all of the sudden came to have moral inclinations.  It derived, from “that which is”, a “that which ought.”

Are we really supposed to believe that, step-by-step, there were irrational changes that brought about the transformation from inorganic to organic; from unified to diversified; from unintelligent to intelligent; and then from amoral to moral man?  No, we are not.  Even empirically speaking, we cannot.

Bahnsen notes that we must be careful when dialoging with evolutionists who will give evidence of change within life forms; but not between life forms.  Moths, for example, whose wings have changed over time to make them more camouflaged, are a prime example.  No one doubts micro-evolution (within life forms).  But what about between life forms (macro-evolution) – no evidence whatsoever.  

4.  Conclusion.  Jay Tindall, 1874, professor at Harvard, said, "The basis for the doctrine of evolution consists, not in an experimental demonstration, but in its general harmony with scientific thought."  In other words, Evolution is not a scientific theory, but simply harmonizes with the spirit of science.  

Gould even states, "the general preference that so many of us hold for gradualism, is a metaphysical stance embedded in the history of western cultures. It is not a high ordered empirical observation induced from the objective study of nature."  It doesn’t get any clearer than this.  Evolution is a philosophical stance, not a scientific one. 

No Words Can Express What I Have Just Seen!

Thanks Zach for posting this...I laughed for almost half an hour!  Enjoy!

Making an Idol out of Bible Study

Living and pastoring in a fairly religious culture puts me in contact with many Christians at different points in their Christian walk.  Some are seasoned individuals, who know and love the gospel well.  Others are young, zealous, and new to the faith.    

In this culture, we stress the importance of really good things - like church, good parenting, prayer, and bible study.  It is a common saying in the halls, "While in my devo's this morning, I learned..."  I love this about my life and friendships.  I love it that the first three people I usually encounter (other than my children) have first encountered God, in the Word and in prayer.  Again, I am truly grateful for this environment.

There are some dangers, however, lurking in these "religious" waters.  It is human nature to create an idol out of just about anything.  And as we know, idols lie.  The lies are not stupid though.  In a culture like ours, they take on religious tones - or, pretenses.  They are plausible.  Lane and Tripp say it well in their book, How People Change, "The lies that capture us as Christians usually seem to fit well within the borders of our Christianity."

In other words, it is quite possible to wake up one day thinking that your morning Bible study will save you.  You (or should I say "we")...WE read our chapters and then move about the day knowing that we have done what we were supposed to do.  We often say things like, "I have spent time with God today, therefore..." Now let me be clear.  I am not saying that a disciplined life in the Word is a bad thing.  I am saying that a disciplined life in the Word might be (or become) a bad thing, IF one uses it as a means to merit righteousness before God - when one makes an idol out of Bible study.

I guess a good question to ask is how a person knows when they have made an idol of Bible study.  Here are a few thoughts on the issue.  I don't pretend to know all indicators; but, being an idol making factory myself, I've had my share of encountering "idol indicators."  Here are a few that I have personally encountered.

If you feel as if you are condemned when you do not have your quiet time in the Bible, you have made an idol out of Bible study.  To put it another way, when people feel that Bible study saves them, then when they do not have Bible study, they don't feel saved or loved by God.  To the moms out there who are bombarded at the early hours of the morning by children who do not value sleeping in...though you aren't getting the physical rest you need, receive this spiritual rest for your soul - Christ alone saves you.  Read to your kids from a good children's Bible and be fed by God.  His grace is sufficient for you.

To the hard working husbands, who wake up at 5am to go to work, and who come home at 6pm from work...receive this rest as well.  

If you neglect other meaningful ways to encounter and study God's Word, you have made an idol out of Bible study.  There were times that I was so upset for not getting in the Word that I neglected my wife singing a hymn while making breakfast for the kids.  There were times that I neglected to really listen to Emma saying her memory verses.  And there were times that I did not cherish Sunday's sermon, because I idolized my own Bible study.  

I agree with David Clarkson, and many other "dead theologians" who strongly believed that our communal time in the Word is more valuable than our individual time in the same.  Here is the link to his famous work, Public Worship to Be Preferred Before Private.  

If you neglect loving others, or find yourself getting upset at others because they interrupt your Bible study, you have made an idol out of it.  I used to get frustrated (and still do sometimes) when my wife or kids would call, just to tell me hello, while I was in study.  If I were studying for the right reasons, I would cherish the call.

If you are offended at this post, you may have made an idol out of Bible study.  

If you tend to tune out others who may not know the Bible as well as you do, then you have made an idol out of your own Bible study.  People know when you are not listening.  This is something that I must pay attention to.  I study the Bible a lot.  It's in my job description.  So when a lay person comes to me with excitement or joy from something he/she just learned from the Scriptures, I should pay attention for the sake of learning as well, and not immediately think he/she has nothing "new" to say (that I didn't already know).  

And finally, if you find yourself not telling others about the Christ of the Bible (you study so much), then you may very well have made an idol out of the Bible and not the Christ.  Your trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Bible.  We must remember, the Scriptures lead us to Christ.  Our relationship to the Scriptures does not save us though - only Christ saves us.  I love the quote from the book noted above, "Our sin is so great that only Christ's work on the cross can rescue us."  Our work in the Bible will not save us Christian.  Only Christ's work will do.  This should free you to love your Bible rightly - even, redemptively.

Do I love studying my Bible?  Yes.  Should you?  Yes.  But never more than the Christ of the Bible.  And if you don't think this is possible - you may be guilty of it now.  Our sinful flesh is crafty.  It knows us well.  It will therefore take very good things that we love, and make ultimate things out of them.  Bible study is a prime target for this.  

Am I saying don't study your Bible?  Am I saying that its okay not to?  I would never downplay the importance of reading and studying the Word of God.  But I would write a post like this to help us all study it redemptively - that is, in a way that helps us love Christ more, and not ourselves.

Correction - Free Red Mountain Music AND Sleeping At Last

Thanks Ben for pointing out the oversight!  I thought that Sleeping at Last was the album name for Red Mountain, but it turns out that my NoiseTrade email said something like, "Red Mountain, Sleeping at Last..."

I got too excited.  So, in order to make the correction, I deleted the last post.  Here is the link for both the Sleeping At Last album AND the Red Mountain album All Things New.  

NoiseTrade is a safe site.  All you have to do is give them your email address along with a few other email addresses for friends.  I will say that I am typically really skeptical and hesitant about giving out my email address to things like this.  But, I have not been overwhelmed by any spam at all from NoiseTrade - only occasional offers for more free music.


ENJOY!!!


And, thanks again Ben.

Abortion Survivor - The Most Amazing Speech I've Heard.

This speech, by abortion survivor, Gianna Jessen, could possibly be the most amazing speech I have ever heard.  I first listened to it about two years ago while in seminary.  At that moment, my passion to see abortion ended began.

What is amazing about this speech is that it is offered in a secular, foreign environment.  This woman addresses the audience (made up of mostly men) with vigor, clarity, and humble fearlessness.  She stirs up conviction when she equates abortion with holocaust - the stronger, less-defected individuals in society, making authoritative decisions concerning the lives of the weak and unborn.

Her case is an abortion gone bad.  Despite her mother's efforts (and the doctor's efforts), she was born anyway.  The doctor was out of the office when this happened.  He didn't have a chance to end her life.  Consequently (and ironically!), he had to sign her birth certificate.  One of the most powerful statements she makes is this, "if abortion is strictly about the right's of women, what were her rights?  Who was fighting for her right to live?"

After addressing abortion, she brings forth the glorious gospel of God's grace.  Take twenty minutes and watch part 1 and 2.  Your life will be changed.

They Only Make It Because We Pay It

When asked what he thought about McNabb's new contract, Terrell Owens said, "How do you justify a $78 million contract with this type of performance?"  I actually agreed with Owens on this point.   However, I believe TO and I would have a bit of a disagreement in regards to whether any football player is worth $78 million!

Regardless of whether McNabb is washed up or not; or whether he's worth the money or not, it is simply alarming to me that these high dollar contracts are being offered all over the place.  Could it be that we have lost touch with reality when we don't even flinch anymore when hearing of a ball player making 10 million dollars in a single year?!

Here is a very interesting article that compares salaries of ball players over the past half century.  Babe Ruth made less than $800,000 total over his 14-year career.  After leading the MLB in home runs for six years straight (a feat never accomplished before or since!), Branch Rickey became the first player to make $100,000/year.  Granted, this was in the 50's, but still.  He asked his manager for a raise with the response, "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you."

Oh how things have changed.  The best player in baseball in the 50's made less than the minimum wage (in any sport other than MLS) in 2009.  And looking at the list of top salaries in all sports ranging from formula one to golf or even motorcycling, $30 million/year is simply not that uncommon.  Wow.

Sure, I could sit here and talk about the ethics of paying this amount of money for sports.  But that conversation wouldn't go that far.  The issue is deeper.  The athletes make this kind of money because the consumers pay it.  All we have to do from here is ask a simple, but significant question, "Why?"  The answer is easy isn't it?  I've written about it before.  It is our nature to desire and adore supremacy; and while fallen man persists in his rebellion, all he can come up with is adoration of athletes.

Am I saying that all fans are worshiping?  No.  But I won't hesitate to say that most are.

And worshippers are willing to pay it all.  Time, effort, resources, and relationships - all are sacrificed to see a person (or team) excel in a game.  And you better believe these gods have their own set of commandments.

1.  Adore me more than all others (for more on this go here and watch the commercial, and read where Kevin Hale speaks specifically about this commandment).
2.  Devote yourself to no other.
3.  Stay at home and watch me on television for hours at a time.
4.  Pay a ton for a ticket.
5.  Pay a ton for my paraphernalia so that everyone knows your mine.
6.  Memorize my statistics.
7.  Talk about me a lot to others.
8.  Oh yeah, don't bother me for an autograph, I'm busy.
9.  Scream really loud when I make a good play.
10.  Place your faith, hope and love in me.  This is a quote by the way - see the link above.

Isn't it interesting that we follow these commandments almost effortlessly!?  Then, when we read God's commandments, we look for ways to get around them.  So what's the problem?  Answer: We have simply lost our capacity for greatness.  As C.S. Lewis would say, we are kids settling for mud pies because we cannot imagine a day at the beach.

And I haven't even said anything about the fact that more money is spent on pornography than professional baseball, football, basketball, and hockey combined!  As Americans, we have everything; but given all indicators, anyone with an objective point of view would say we don't have anything at all.  We can buy pretty much anything we want, but we are satisfied by nothing.  We have an appetite as big as God, but we fill our plates with peanuts.  It just doesn't make sense.  But idolatry never does.  We must be redeemed.

Tim Keller said once that money is a good identifier of our idols.  Look where where the money is spent, and you will see where the idols live.  Idols never get full.  They are constantly making demands as we spend our lives trying to comply.  But here is the flip side.  We are never filled by idols. They demand and we pay... only to be empty, again.  

The salaries won't get smaller.  The ticket prices won't get lower.  Until the high places come crumbling down.  We will pay too much until we can pay nothing at all.  Then what?

Emptiness.

Then what?

The Gospel.

Then what?

Redemption.

Are sports bad?  When they are sanctuaries for worship, yes, they are.  The link that I keep referencing (from Mr. Hale) was the straw that broke this justified-sinner's back.   I'm not sure how much more I'm willing to pay.  But I do know this, the evident hunger of millions of people is indicative of a field that is ripe for harvest.  The Gospel doesn't call a person to stop worshipping.  Rather, it calls us all to worship true Supremacy - Christ, our Lord.  It calls us to stop settling for less.

Favorite Book #9 - Book Giveaway!!!!

I am continuing to list my top ten favorite books.  I am also giving away, to some lucky winner, each of my favorite books (all you have to do is comment or email, and at the end of the week I will draw for the winner).  This week features my ninth favorite book - The Pleasures of God by John Piper.

I love this book because it "reformed" me.  Before reading it, I zealously treated the doctrines of grace with contempt.  Election seemed horrendously unfair.  Predestination was a cuss word; and God's sovereignty in salvation was something that wasn't glorious to me at all.  Looking back I now see why I thought this way.

It was because I tried to understand the doctrines in the wrong order.  I tried to learn about election and predestination before understanding God's passion for His own glory.  I tried to understand God's sovereignty before understanding His supremacy. And I tried to learn and understand God's grace, without first understanding His justice.  I tried to understand His gifts to me, before understanding the Cross where Christ was offered up to God, for me.  


John Piper has been so influential in the modern movement of the Reformed faith, because he presents the Doctrines of Grace in their own redemptive order.  The book begins speaking about God's Pleasure in His Son, then to God's Pleasure in All He Does, and on to God's Pleasure in His Creation and in His Fame.  It is after laying out these marvelous doctrines that he introduces The Pleasure of God in Election, and The Bruising of His Son and so on.

My problem was that I tried desperately to understand Election before I had the proper framework for it. I was not ready to embrace it.  Prideful hands cannot handle a doctrine that creates (by nature) humility.  Knowing that God loves His glory more than He loves us was an humiliating, eye-opener for me.  And understanding that God's love for His own glory was the very foundation for His love for me, provided the necessity of His election of me, a sinner who had not loved His glory.

I love this book.  I hope you will get it and love it too.  If you leave a comment (or email me at smoore1517@gmail.com) I will throw your name in the hat and draw on Friday.  May God's providence get this book in your hands as soon as possible!

A Challenge for Mr. Hologram Bracelet Maker Man

I wonder who invented the whole hologram bracelet thing.  Who ever it was, his strategy was excellent.  It must have been something like this - "I think I will put a hologram in a rubber bracelet.  After all, everybody likes wearing rubber bracelets these days!  Just look at Lance Armstrong."

And then, says Mr. Hologram Bracelet Maker Man, "I will market these bracelets to some really big, strong, guys that can run a ball around, who obviously need help balancing! - no, I will give them the bracelets, and take their pictures wearing them during a game so I can tell others that football, basketball, baseball, and cricket players are wearing my bracelet!  It'll be great!  I will tell them, "See!  Look at Payton Manning!  Look at his balance!  Look at his strength!  He's wearing my bracelet!""

I have to admit, I'm being a bit sarcastic.  I hope no one takes offense to this.  I'm a little bit skeptical.  But then, last night it hit me....

I was getting my little boy ready for bed.  I had to first take his clothes from the day off in order to get his jammies on.   As I pulled his shirt off, he fell down.  As I tried to put his jammie shirt on, he fell down.  As I tried to wipe his face off, guess what...he fell down.  This soon became frustrating.  It was late.  I was exhausted.  And I seriously considered, at least for a second, putting him to bed with his shirt half way on, and with no pants!

Then the epiphany!  I should get him one of those hologram bracelets that everyone is wearing!  Then he wouldn't be falling all over the place.  More than that, just think of all of the bruises that we could avoid if he just wouldn't fall down so much!  Think of all of the tears that could be saved!  

So here is my challenge Mr. Hologram Bracelet Maker Man...football players and athletes hardly need better balance.  But my boy sure does.  Let's get some of those bracelets made for kids ages, say, 2 - 4 years old.  Send me some.  Then let's just see if a hologram on a bracelet will keep him from falling so much.  

Mr. Hologram Bracelet Maker Man...consider yourself challenged.  You've made millions I'm sure.  What have you got to lose?  We're the ones who have kids falling all over the place.  Help us!

Oh, yeah...while you're at it, why don't you send some of those bracelets to Mr. Hale in Conway...he (and his great wife) have their hands full over there (with 5 kids!).  Maybe you can invent some sort of necklace as well that will keep the kids from making a mess out of the pantry!

Is the God of the Bible Too Small?

After a long email conversation, over about a two week period, my atheist friend says to me in conclusion, "Unfortunately, the christian god just isn't big enough for me. The god the bible describes is just too small to explain the observed reality of the universe, and so I will never consider him."


Since our last email, I have thought long and hard about what was said throughout the whole conversation. We disagreed on a lot of stuff - as was expected.  Looking back, I regret the manner in which I said some things.  I responded a few times in a non-Christ-like way, sounding more like a smart__s than a person who has been saved by grace.   I repented to him.  I learned a lot.


But, I have been thinking mostly about his last comment (quoted above).  He commonly made reference to the "smallness" of the Christian God, criticizing the way in which God communicates to us through "a book"; and not only that, but a book that focuses on a rather small segment of human history (according to him).  He seemed to be indignant about the fact that this book was the only way to know God.  Surely, he thinks, if there is a God, He would be bigger than that.  


I never responded to this particular criticism.  I would however, like to share with you some thoughts I have about it.


First, the first words of the "Book" describe how large God really is.  He created all things.  He created the universe and all of the realities in the universe.  This is pretty simple.  It leaves the reader with no apologies; but rather with an ethical decision to believe it or not.  Moses is under no obligation, nor does he seem to have a concern for arguing for the existence of God by looking at the universe.  He simply states, "In the beginning...GOD."  At least in Genesis, the polemical statement is "God, therefore the universe";  not, "the universe, therefore God."


Second, I did tell him that I did not agree with the premise that God only communicates through a book.  Rather, "the heavens declare the glory of God" (Ps 19) and "His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power, and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Rom 1:20, italics mine).  


Third, I think it is important to understand that no one deserves communication from God.  Knowing God is the greatest blessing a creature can receive.  And because of our sin, we deserve to be lost forever.  This makes His communication concerning the grace of salvation through Christ gloriously merciful.  The greatness of God is clearly perceived in creation, but it is perhaps even greater perceived at the Cross.  A man may build a house, but can he turn his cheek.  The power to forgive is often greater than the power it takes to create.


Fourth, in other words, the "smallness" of the book is indicative, not of the smallness of God, but of the greatness of His grace.  Man is sinful and hardheaded.  Man is small.  God communicates to man, concerning salvation, in a way that man can receive.  This is tremendously gracious.  Simply put, the smallness of the "book" is not indicative of the smallness of God, but of the greatness of God communicating to the smallness of man.  


Last, God, in His grace, does not wait for man to survey and scientifically test all of the elements of the universe in order to come up with an understanding of a god.  As a matter of fact, if one were to take and record all of the scientific knowledge that man has ever discovered throughout all of human history, it would pale in comparison to all of the knowledge that could be discovered in the universe.  In all of man's efforts to know the universe, his efforts, at the end of the day, are infinitely narrow, limited and parochial.  To know anything, a man must know everything.  Man is not God and can therefore not know everything - despite his efforts to do so. 


But God, being rich in mercy, came down to man, and made known to him the riches of the glory of the mystery, which is Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  He is the savior of the world.  And by His Spirit He whispers in our ears just how great our God really is.  He is so great that He chose to speak to a small and sinful man like me.  And for that I am grateful.

When the One You Love Becomes the One You Worship

I have a family now.  I think my wife is beautiful.  And my kids...they are great too.  I see them daily.  I hug on 'em constantly.  We go through good times and even some bad times as well. But we go through it all together.  By grace, we seem to grow closer each and every day.

I never thought life in relationship could be so good.  But I never thought it could be so dangerous either.  When the ones you love become the ones you worship, life takes a very sharp turn.  Loving is soon replaced with crushing; asking is replaced with demanding; forgiveness is replaced with fighting; and all because the Creator has been replaced with the creature.

All it takes is one bad day; when we neglect to preach the gospel to ourselves, we place the ones we love on the throne of our hearts.  And it's easy isn't it?  They are visible, Christ isn't.  It's easier to embrace the one seated next to us, than the One who is seated at the right hand of God.

Let's get real.  Sometimes I get tired of being a Christian.  I get tired of "setting my mind on Christ."  There are times when I don't want to read my Bible; and I don't want to pray.  I wish He was here with me - tangible, audible, and visible.  But He's not.  This frustrates me.  I get tired of waiting for glory...and so, I walk over and I scoop up my little girl instead.

I have to be careful though.  If not, I may scoop her up too high and place her on a platform where she is completely unable to stand.  You see, high places are our attempt to adore perfection.   When we adore, we lose ourselves.  We forget the bad stuff in our lives, because the perfection of "good" is right before us.  And this is natural...we were made for this.  But there are problems.  And these problems are the reason I write.  Allow me to list a few.

First, our high places are flawed.  They will never pass a divine inspection.  Because they are created, they are subject to decay, wear, tear and the like.  One day, the high places will come crumbling down.  And when they do, whatever [or whoever!] we have placed upon them, will come crumbling down with them.

Second, those we place on our flawed high places are flawed as well.  They will never pass the inspection for perfection.  Have you ever wondered why we, as humans, want the perfect spouse, the perfect team, the perfect season, the perfect job, the perfect dog, the perfect car, etc.?  Answer: because we were made to worship perfection.  We were made for God.

But people aren't God.  If we look at them hard enough (on the high place) we will spot an imperfection.  This is where life gets abusive.  If the one we worship shows an imperfection, we lose it!  After all, we are placing everything at their feet.  They are our source of satisfaction.  They are responsible for our identity!  If they are flawed, then so are we!

And this is why I crush my little girl sometimes - forcing her, as it were, to be perfect.  This is why I crush my wife sometimes - by getting upset and angry when she doesn't do this or that; or act this way or that way.

When our object of worship shows a flaw, we scream at it saying, "Get perfect!  Stop doing that!  How dare you do that to me!"  And when they begin to fall down from the high place, many times we throw them back up there.  We force them to be something they were never created to be.  This is called abuse.  When they don't meet our expectations of perfection, our lives spiral into despair; and they are to blame!

Sometimes people wise up a bit.  After coming to their senses, they understand that the person is not fit for the high place.  So what do they do?  They throw them down; and they replace them with another.  This is called neglect.  "You weren't perfect, so I'm done with you!  Life is too short not to be happy!  See ya!"

Third, in our fallenness, we try to climb and sit upon other people's high places.  In our sin, we want to be worshipped.  We want the praise of men.  But this is an extremely fickle position.  If we are going to have it, we must fight for it; and fight we do!  As said above, if we occupy the high places we are subject to severe criticism.  Before long, those who worship us will begin pointing out our imperfections.  This is when we get ticked off.  This is when we become immediately defensive saying, "Me!? Well, you were this and that!  You are the one....!!!" And the cycle goes on and on and on and on...

So what are we to do?  We have to live the gospel.  There is simply no other way.

First, we must not place the ones we love on high places.  This is sometimes very difficult.  Christ must occupy the High Place of our hearts.  When we are ultimately satisfied in Him - and accepted in Him, we will not abuse others when they don't satisfy or accept us.  For me this is very practical.  A clean house will not ultimately satisfy me.  Therefore, if I come home to a dirty house, there is no need to overreact.  Christ has purified my life - who am I to complain about a dirty room!

If I am perfectly acceptable in Christ, I won't be tempted to seek acceptance in my children's good behavior.  This enables me to love Emma, Jude, and Camille rather than punish them for being crazy kids.  And when they do sin, I can show them a merciful and just Christ instead of an angry and obtuse father.

When those we love are not worshipped, then many "imperfections" that we once saw turn out not to be imperfections at all; but rather personal idiosyncrasies that make them significant, different, and special.  Those "imperfections" may just turn out to be what we love most about them.

Second, if we are on the high place of our loved ones, we must come down.  This is painful.  Part of sharing the gospel to those we love is to help them identify and mortify their idols.  If we are the idol, we must be prepared to confess our own unworthiness of worship!  This is where we get out a sheet of paper and show them how jacked up we really are.  This is also when we must be prepared to find out things about ourselves that we were blind to.  If we don't understand the gospel at this time, we will be tempted to hop back on the high place by saying, "You're crazy!  I'm not forgetful, lazy, or unfair!"

To sum up, I will give a story that happened just the other day.  I overheard Emma and Katie talking in the other room.  Emma said something to the effect of, "Daddy never does what he says he's gonna do." This was a daggar in my heart.  I almost fell to the floor.  Katie defended me a little.  I was even tempted to enter the room to defend myself.  But I didn't.

I have failed Emma.  We used to go on a date every week.  Now, we are lucky if we go once a month.  This is just one example that entered my mind.  And so I repented.  But I was also painfully thankful  that my little girl saw flaws in her daddy.  I was off of her high place and I was not going to get back on.  Rather, this was the perfect occasion to direct her to the One who is always faithful.  He is always with us.  He is always truthful, gracious, merciful and perfect.

He alone is the One we can both love and worship.

Free Kindle Book - RC Sproul on the Gospel of John

Here is a free commentary on the Gospel of John by RC Sproul.  The Fourth Gospel is my personal favorite.  I have not read any of the St. Andrew's Expositional Commentaries, but I have heard great things about them.

Again, as said before, if you do not have a Kindle device, you can still benefit from Kindle books.  Simply download the program on your computer.  You can read from your screen.  I am a fan of the Kindle device though.  I got mine about 3 months ago and absolutely love it!

I hope you all had a nice holiday.  I sure did.  As you probably noticed, I decided to take last week off as far as blogging is concerned.  I had a great time focusing on my family and how thankful I am for them.

Have a great day!

Wake Up Parents Before Technology Puts Us To Sleep!

Please excuse the title.  At times I can get a bit emotional, and though I try to filter my emotions before I place them on paper, this could very well be an exception to my rule.  I chose the title to get your attention.  And I hope your attention will be kept as you read.  If I were to condense this post into one sentence, it would be: "Parents, stop being parented by your children."  Or, to state it more kindly, "We, as parents, must not be parented by our kids."

A few articles I read today in the NY Times prompted me to write.  The first one titled "Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction" talks about how kids today can barely read a 30-page homework assignment without being distracted by the digital world.  They prefer Facebook, YouTube and texting over reading, writing and arithmetic.  They are tired and distracted in the classroom, while at the same time spending hours upon hours in front of a computer screen, playing games or "socializing" in social networks - sometimes until the early hours of the morning.  Kids today, the teachers complain, cannot write a simple paper, but they can send thousands of text messages in a single month.

What is the proposed solution?  Well, the teachers seem to be split.  The minority (like the Latin teacher) says that the kids need to sort of "come back to reality" and come back to the educational basics (you know, the three R's).  The majority seems to feel differently.  In order to keep the technologically savvy kid's attention, schools need to use technologically savvy methods.

An example the article gives is a teenager named "V".  V, after a year or so in high school, seemed to be doing well; however, after he received his first computer, his grades began to suffer.  You see, V has found a passion for movie editing and film making.  To him, reading short stories and learning Algebra II are a waste of time.  Instead, he needs to be focusing on his career in the film industry.  His Facebook status read one night, "8+ hours of shooting, 8+ hours of editing. All for just a three-minute scene.  Mind=dead."  No wonder he made a D in English.

So what do V's parents do?  The article states, "The $2000 computer V is using is state of the art and only a week old.  It represents a concession by his parents.  They allowed him to buy it, despite their continuing concerns about his technology habits, because the wanted to support his filmmaking dream. "If we put roadblocks in his way, he's just going to get depressed," his mother says.  Besides, she adds, "he's been making an effort to do his homework.""

V did start doing better in school.  What did the school do to bring about the change?  It changed the curriculum in order to facilitate his desires; to meet him "on his own turf."  This philosophy comes from the principal, that the way to reach the students is on their own terms.  He sees his way of educating as a success.  Why?  Because the students are in class and listening. Wow.

The other article by Bob Herbert titled, Hiding From Reality, is about America's sad situation on many fronts - the economy and jobs, the public schools, the budget deficits, and the nonstop warfare oversees.  But here is the quote that got me.  Herbert writes about the educational system, "For all the talk about the need to improve the public schools and get rid of incompetent teachers, school systems around the country are being hammered with dreadful cutbacks and teachers are being let go in droves, not because they are incompetent, but strictly for budget reasons..."

Here we have one article talking about the massive cuts in the school systems over budgeting issues, while the other article sites actions such as this, "Across the country, schools are equipping themselves with computers, Internet access and mobile devices so they can teach on the student's technological territory...[as well as] securing funding (in the millions) for iPads and multimedia centers."

What does all of this mean?  Can we put two and two together?  I understand that the problems run deeper than this; but in this context, one problem is at least this - that our children are making demands that we [and they] simply cannot afford.

Our kids are becoming slaves of technology.  Let's just call it what it is.  And technology is extremely expensive - not only in the monetary world, but in the temporal one as well.  Hundreds of dollars are spent on iPhones as well as hundreds of hours.  Is anyone concerned about this???  I could not help but think about the world in say 20 years - how will people communicate?  Will they communicate?  How will marriages function?  How will parents love their children?  Will they love their children?  How can we love one another rightly when earphones have almost become a regular part of our wardrobe!  How can we experience the fullness of forgiveness when we apologize by way of a text message!?

As parents, we must wake up!  We must lead the way.  I will be the first to confess that I love my phone.  I spent a thousand minutes on my cell phone last month; and I probably sent around 700 text messages.  I will also confess that there is no Biblical principle that addresses this issue head on.  Therefore, most of this is simply my gut feeling, being led, I trust, by a sanctified wisdom and sincere motive.  I would also like to give this disclaimer; because I have no Biblical normative in this area, it is not my intention to bind anyone's conscience to my personal views.  Ridding ourselves and our kids of bad technological use will not save us.  In other words, if you read this and I hear your kid plays video games for 10 hours a day, I will not condemn you for it, though I would express concern.

So here are some suggestions:

First, we must lead our children.  That means we must use technology for the glory of God.  If your child is talking to you, put the phone down; take your eyes off of the computer screen and talk to them.  Drop all technology when your child - or anyone for that matter - is calling for your attention.  This places people over some technological device.  In biblical terms, this is loving your neighbor as yourself.

This also means that we must lead them in how to spend vital resources (i.e., time and money).  I cannot help but think something is wrong when a washed-up quarterback gets paid some $78 Million to play football for five years; and there is talk of a recession.  How is it that when so many are without, almost everyone in this store has, and is using, some type of technological device?  Take a look around...every child has a cell phone - and a good one at that!

I go to an impoverished community every week.  All of those kids are fighting over cell phones and shoes.  They want the iPhone.  They want the Jordans.  Before I get through sharing a gospel message, I usually have to tell them to put up their phones [b/c they are texting] at least three or four times.  A lot of this is learned behavior.  And a lot is allowed behavior.

Second, we must educate our children.  I could not disagree more with that principal (see above).  We have so lowered our educational standards that a child can graduate high school without knowing how to write a single paragraph in good, grammatically correct, English.  I have seen this injustice with my own eyes.

Curriculum must not come down to the child necessarily; but as parents, we must help, love, and lift our children up to the curriculum.   A child hardly knows how he ought to be educated.  Therefore, we must put our phones down and come away from Facebook and the ball game long enough to guide and train the next generation. 

To build a curriculum around V's film-making desires, as a high-schooler (beyond offering a few electives in a related area) is more crippling than helping.  It builds a deserving mentality in the child - that he deserves to be educated in what he wants to do.  But we all know that jobs don't appear simply because we want them.  That's like building a curriculum around basketball because the kid wants to play in the NBA.  This is simply careless.

In another sense, if V wants to pursue film-making, let him drop out of school and pursue it.  And until he reaches that (which may never happen) he can be a server or even a garbage man...and that is just fine.  The most successful people I know (financially speaking) never graduated high school.  Tax payer money should not fund V's film making career.  He should.  That way he will love it more and find more gratification in it.

Third, we must understand why our kids are addicted to technology!  This is where the gospel comes in.  Again, a perfect relationship with technology will not earn righteousness before God.  But being addicted to technology will not fill the void that only God can fill.  We, as parents, must know and understand this.  Many may have missed the comment in the article from a student named Sean who plays video games for four hours after school each day, and twice that on the weekends.

He says, "Video games don't make the hole; they fill it."  The editor cannot believe the comment given the multimillion dollar view where the kid lives.

Did you hear that parent???  Video games don't create the hole; they fill it.  There is a God-shaped hole in every heart; and every heart will reach and consume anything it can to fill it.  Today its video games, cell phones, Internet, and other forms of digital communication.  Our media saturated culture has done a great job convincing this generation that they can fill the void in every life.  Our kids have bought the lie.  Have we?  This creates bondage.  Our kids see no way to a greater satisfaction in Christ.  They cannot come off of the screen long enough to see Him!

That same student, Sean, goes on to say, "Sometimes I wish that my parents would force me to quit playing...because I find it hard to quit when the choice is mine."  Sean is enslaved.  He must be set free.  Only the Son can set this generation free.

Finally, as parents, we must know freedom in Christ so we can lead our children in the same freedom.  We must not buy the lie that electronics and ball games will satisfy us.  We must lead our children through the wilderness to the promised land.  This means we must destroy the bondage of the golden calf (Exodus 32).  We must show them the superior pleasure that is in Christ alone.  He alone is fulfilling.  He alone satisfies.  He alone can captivate us rightly in a way that builds relationships and communication with others, instead of tearing it apart.

Please understand me.  Am I saying throw away the Playstation?  Am I saying get rid of Facebook?  Not necessarily.  Maybe you need to.  Maybe you need to buy one!  I am only saying that we must be awake to the fact that Playstations and Facebook are powerful idols in our day.  How do you know if they are an idol in your life or in the life of your child?  Simply take them away for a time.  Simply ask them to leave it in order to spend time with you.  Watch the response.  If the response if a tantrum, or depression (in V's case) or some other over reaction...its an idol.  Kill it...and replace it with Christ.

Parents, ask your spouse or a good friend if this is a problem that they see in your life.  Parents, talk to your children about the same.  Be open to what they have to say.  If you are not open, it may be an idol.

And remember, this is all for the sake of knowing and enjoying Christ.  Many in our culture are going down this deadly path - and many will need us to pull them out.  May God grant us strength, according to His glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.  This post is not meant to deprive you and your children of joy; but rather to give joy to you, your children and the generations to come.  May the Lord lavish His mercy upon us all.

So What If He Loves Me

Imagine Jimmy.  He's the good lookin cool kid in school.  When he walks by all the girls get a bit weak in the knees.  On the first day of fifth grade Jimmy gets a few notes passed his way, most of which have the same message..."Sue loves you!  Do you love her?"  or "Jane loves you...do you love her?" 

Jimmy, after a little bit of thought, takes his pick.  It's Jane.  Sue's friend asks him, "Why didn't you love Sue?  She loves you!"  Jimmy, with a cool smirk says, "So what if Sue loves me?"  Well, Jimmy and Jane "loved" each other for about two weeks.  Relationship over. 

These days it seems as if the only evangelistic message is, "God loves you."  The unbeliever, still thinking like a fifth grader named Jimmy, says in return, "So what if He loves me?  Sue loved me too.  Big deal."  So what is the Christian to do?  Can he/she therefore not say the wonderful slogan again?  Well, I wouldn't say that.  But I would say that we have to understand what it means for God to love someone. 

As a culture we have lost the meaning love; and we certainly have lost what it means for God to love.  As Christians we must know what love means.  We must know the kind of love God gives.  John 15:9 gives us a clue.  Jesus says, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love."  Books have been written on love, but this verse gives us more than we can chew in one sitting.  Here are a few thoughts.

First, this is a Trinitarian love.  In the way that God the Father has loved God the Son, so God the Son loves us.  Amazing.  Let that sink in a bit.

Second, this love is eternal.  It never ends.  Jimmy stopped loving, and so do many people.  But Christ never stops loving.  As Christians, we are not loved with a fifth grader puppy love.  We are loved with a divine, supreme and sovereign love. 

Third, this love is enduring.  It is bearing.  For many, love begins to dim as the other continues to show their imperfections.  When people sin against us, we tend to run from them.  Christ's love is different.  When we were His enemies, He came to us.  He did not run from our iniquities, He bore them (Isa 53:11).  His love draws sinners to Himself.  When our desire was to make Him bleed, He bled for us.

Fourth, this love is effective.  We've all been in Sue's position (see first paragraph).  The one we thought we loved didn't love us back.  This hurts.  Many have placed Christ in Sue's position.  Christ loved us but we, like Jimmy, gave Him a smirk and went on our way.  Christ is left sulking.  This is not Christ's love.  When Christ loves someone, He changes them.  Remember, "We love because He first loved us" (1Jn 4:19).  When Christ sheds love, He sheds blood.  And that blood changes our smirk into sobbing; our running into embracing; our arrogant pride into an inflamed passion for Him.

Fifth, this love is "in Christ."  In other words, we are loved by God because we are united to Christ.  His perfect righteousness given to us makes us perfectly, justly, and eternally lovable.  Christ's perfect power keeps us at the right hand of God, safely, where His love can be constantly and faithfully bestowed upon us.  Christ's perfect death removed all possibility of His love fading.  Sin gets in the way of love, but Christ paid for all of our sin.  He cleansed us.  His love will never end. 

Last, God the Spirit, the wonderful Comforter, works in us to reciprocate that love.  Because the Persons of the Trinity will always love one another, we can rest assured that we will always love God.  The Father has commanded this.  The Son has accomplished and purchased this.  And the Spirit powerfully and efficaciously brings this about, in us.  Both Christ's love for us and our love for Him are rooted in the eternal councils of the Holy Trinity.  They go deeper than us.  This love runs through our fickle will into the heart of God who is infinite, eternal and unchangeable.

I used to fear that I would one day not love Christ.  But the Gospel of God's love for me changes me and assures me that, by grace, I will never finally say, "So what if He loves me."