Final Debate Thoughts

If we should be voting on a candidate based on charisma and eloquence, then yes, we should vote for Obama. He is very relaxed and says nice things. However, that is not the reason we should desire someone to be president of the United States.

The ESV Study Bible - Received

The wait is over. I found it on the front porch yesterday. I was pretty stoked. I can't wait to get in there in the next several months and break it in. If you want more info about it, check out Tim Challies' review here.

More on Obama as pro-abortion candidate

For those who have asked for a very clear breakdown of Obama's thoughts and history regarding abortion, check this post out from Justin Taylor. He actually pulls a lot of information from the essay by Dr. George that I linked to earlier today.

Abortion, is it worth the fight?

Al Mohler has a great post on the issue of abortion. In it, he basically sets up the two sides of the debate, and says there shouldn't be much room at all for middle ground. Either you believe the woman needs the freedom to make the decision to have an abortion for whatever reason, or you believe unborn babies have a right to life and should be protected. He goes on to quote Professor George of Princeton, who has some insight on Obama's stance on the issue. (Also, see this post for a real life example of this!!)

"In an act of breathtaking injustice which the Obama campaign lied about until critics produced documentary proof of what he had done, as an Illinois state senator Obama opposed legislation to protect children who are born alive, either as a result of an abortionist's unsuccessful effort to kill them in the womb, or by the deliberate delivery of the baby prior to viability...For him, a child marked for abortion gets no protection-even ordinary medical or comfort care-even if she is born alive and entirely separated from her mother. So Obama has favored protecting what is literally a form of infanticide."

And then, Dr. Mohler offers some insight of his own regarding the issue of "single issue" voting:

"There are signs of fatigue among Christians on this issue. Some argue that the sanctity of life issue is simply one among many important issues. Without doubt, we are faced with many urgent and important issues. Nevertheless, every voter must come to terms with what issues matter most in the electoral decision. At some point, every voter is a potential "single issue" voter. Some issues simply eclipse others.

This is the case with the sanctity of human life. I can understand the fatigue. So little progress seems to have been made. So much ground has been lost. So many unborn babies have been aborted. The culture has turned increasingly hostile to this commitment, especially among the young. There is a sense that many want to get on with other issues...

...Our vote will determine whether millions of unborn babies live or die. The Freedom of Choice Act, if passed, would lead directly to a radical increase in the numbers of abortions. The abortion industry has told us that themselves.

The question comes down to this: How many lives are we willing to forfeit -- to write off as expendable -- in order to "move on" to other issues of concern? There is no way to avoid that question and remain morally serious. The voting booth is no place to hide."

Finally, I want to add some thoughts of my own. I've heard the argument that Roe v. Wade will be impossible to overturn, so Republicans really shouldn't try. Instead they should focus on doing something more practical. I'm just thankful that William Wilberforce didn't think that way as he spent most of his political life trying (and succeeding) to abolish the slave trade in England, which was thought to be an impossible task.

Also, I went to the Bodies Exhibition a couple of years ago and posted some thoughts here on that experience, specifically about the experience in the fetal development section. I was reminded of this time a few nights ago as a friend and I discussed it. To see the growth process of a baby in the womb leaves you breathless as you think about how many abortions actually happen to these well-developed human beings. Consider this verse in Ecclesiates (again):

"As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything" - Eccl. 11:5

A great explanation of God's foreknowledge and our "free" will

The following comes from Boethius out of a work of his called Consolation of Philosophy. It has been considered as his most popular work and was written while he was in prison awaiting his execution for "treason" (died 524 AD). In this work, he apparently writes about a variety of different philosophical and theological topics. However, I have just read a portion of it for my seminary class that deals with the issues of time, God's foreknowledge, and free will. And I found the reading extremely helpful in in bringing some clarity to the much debated topic of God's foreknowledge versus man's free will. Consider the following:

God's foreknowledge is knowledge of a never changing present:

“since God lives in the eternal present, His knowledge transcends all movement of time and abides in the simplicity of its immediate present. It encompasses the infinite sweep of past and future, and regards all things in its simple comprehension as if they were now taking place. Thus, if you will think about the foreknowledge by which God distinguishes all things, you will rightly consider it to be not a foreknowledge of future events, but knowledge of a never changing present. For this reason, divine knowledge is called providence, rather than prevision, because it resides above all inferior things and looks out on all things from their summit.”

How our "free" will remains intact:

“[A] future event is necessary with respect to God’s knowledge of it, but free and undetermined if considered in its own nature...But God sees as present those future things which result from free will. Therefore, from the standpoint of divine knowledge these things are necessary because of the condition of their being known by God; but, considered only in themselves, they lose nothing of the absolute freedom of their own natures.

The meaning is the same as in the example ...of the sun rising and the man walking. At the time they are happening, they must necessarily be happening; but the sun’s rising is governed by necessity even before it happens, while the man’s walking is not. Similarly, all the things God sees as present will undoubtedly come to pass; but some will happen by the necessity of their natures, others by the power of those who make them happen. Therefore, we quite properly said that these things are necessary if viewed from the standpoint of divine knowledge, but if they are considered in themselves, they are free of the bonds of necessity.”

God's providence is constant:

“You may still wonder, however, whether God’s knowledge is changed by your decisions, so that when you wish now one thing, now another, the divine knowledge undergoes corresponding changes. This is not the case. For Divine Providence anticipates every future action and converts it to its own present knowledge. It does not change, as you imagine, foreknowing this or that in succession, but in a single instant, without being changed itself, anticipates and grasps your changes. God has this present comprehension and immediate vision of all things not from the outcome of future events, but from the simplicity of his own nature...Since this is true, the freedom of the human will remains inviolate, and laws are just since they provide rewards and punishments to human wills which are not controlled by necessity.”

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Romans 8:33)

What is a true woman?

Since roughly 50% of the people I know are women, I thought I'd pass this along. Tim Challies is attending the True Woman Conference in Chicago and live blogging the talks there. The third talk was given by John Piper. I wanted to highlight a few things from his talk, but you can check out the whole post here.

"'True womanhood is a distinctive calling of God to display the glory of his Son in ways that would not be displayed if there was no womanhood.' When God described the work of his Son as the sacrifice of a husband for his bride, he was telling us why he made us male and female. He made us this way so this relationship would describe more fully the relationship of his son and his son's blood-brought bride. If you reduce woman to biological features you not only reduce the value of womanhood but reduce the glory given God. We must understand that, in opposition to what the world teaches, womanhood is not incidental to personhood."

And he adds this special word to single women

"The Apostle Paul loved his singleness. He loved it because it gave him such radical freedom to get arrested month after month and to be beaten and lashed and shipwrecked. Singleness is a high calling. He celebrated it and called many to follow him in it, even with the beauty of all that marriage displays. Why would he lure some out of pursuing marriage if he made marriage as such a magnificent portrait? In this season of history since the Fall, the natural order God established is not absolute. The reason that rejoicing in singleness is not an assault on God's glory is that in this world there are truths about Christ and his kingdom that can be more clearly displayed by manhood and womanhood in singleness than in marriage. He offered three things single womanhood can say better than married womanhood:

1. A life of Christ-exalting singleness bears witness that the family of God grows by regeneration by faith, not propagation by sexual intercourse. The main thing we're about is growing this family!
2. A life of Christ-exalting singleness bears witnesses that relationships in Christ are more lasting than relationships in families.
3. The Christ-exalting singleness of a woman bears witness to the truth that marriage is temporary and finally gives way in the end to the reality of what the portrait points to. A single woman who lives with this in view says something very powerfully about her Savior

Offering a final summary and challenge, Piper said that true womanhood is a distinctive calling to display the glory of the Son in ways that cannot be displayed in any other way. This is true whether a woman is married or single. No matter whether you're married or single, do not settle for wimpy theology. Do not waste your true womanhood, for it was made for the glory of Christ."

Erasmus and the infinite possiblitities of varied verbal expression

Erasmus is a guy most people have never heard about. He lived from 1466 to 1536. He was very influential by producing the first Greek New Testament. This would later help William Tyndale to create the first English translation of the New Testament as well as enabling Martin Luther to create the first German translation of the New Testament.

The following comes from a talk on William Tyndale given by John Piper a couple of years ago. His thoughts struck me because I'm beginning to really love language and appreciate the beauty of it. I want the ability to make thoughts and ideas come alive by using more creative vocabulary. And it's interesting because Erasmus and many of the early Bible translators were lovers of language as well. And, as you'll read, some think that without guys like Erasmus there would be no Shakespeare.

"Erasmus wrote a book called De copia that...helped students increase their abilities to exploit the 'copious' potential of language. This was hugely influential in the early 1500s in England and was used to train students in the infinite possibilities of varied verbal expression. The aim was to keep that language from sinking down to mere jargon and worn-out slang and uncreative, unimaginative, prosaic, colorless, boring speech.

One practice lesson for students from De copia was to give 'no fewer than one hundred fifty ways of saying ‘Your letter has delighted me very much.’' The point was to force students 'to use of all the verbal muscles in order to avoid any hint of flabbiness.' It is not surprising that this is the kind of educational world that gave rise to William Shakespeare (who was born in 1564). Shakespeare is renown for his unparalleled use of copiousness in language. One critic wrote, 'Without Erasmus, no Shakespeare.'"

Reproof and Forgiveness

I really wish I had more of this going on in my life. Both with the humility to receive it and the boldness to give it.

Lecrae

reformed, gospel-centered lyrics + dang good hip hop = Lecrae

If you don't already know, check him out. He's has the #5 best-selling hip hop album right now in Itunes, with Rebel. Also, Mark Driscoll sits down with him for a really interesting interview here

Check out these lyrics from a great song called Fanatic:

The world's trying to tidy up, exfoliate they skin
but only Christ can come and exfoliate they sin
And they fate look grim, If they don't take him
As the high priest he is to mediate they sin
The world's got to many Gods, man we choose the one
From hebrews, he rules, he bruised his son

Thanks Roy

The dangers of Facebook

Roy links to a good article describing how Facebook can turn into endless narcissism (and in a virtual world at that). Check it out.

Misjudging healthy relationships as homosexual

Tim Challies looks at the postmodern error of viewing close male relationships. He basically says that these days, any form of intimacy between two men is now considered to be homosexual in nature. And this creates a stigma among men to stay away from healthy, biblical friendships with each other.

Consider these verses that speak of the friendship between David and Jonathan: "As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." (1 Samuel 18:1) "And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul." (1 Samuel 20:17) "I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women." (2 Samuel 1:26)

Here's a couple paragraphs from Challies.

"Here is where it gets even more interesting and important. Says Esolen 'Open homosexuality, loudly and defiantly celebrated, changes the language for everyone. ...If a man throws his arm around another man's waist, it is now a sign--whether he is on the political right or the left, whether he believes in biblical proscriptions of homosexuality or not. ...If a man cradles the head of his weeping friend, the shadow of suspicion must cross your mind." Gone is the innocence that would allow us to see a man love another man without assuming that their relationship involved sex or at least the desire for sex. Men and boys, including Christian men and boys, are suffering the fallout. 'The sexual revolution has also nearly killed male friendship as devoted to anything beyond drinking and watching sports. ...The prominence of male homosexuality changes the language for teenage boys. It is absurd and cruel to say that the boy can ignore it. Even if he would, his classmates will not let him. All boys need to prove that they are not failures. They need to prove that they are on the way to becoming men--that they are not going to relapse into the need to be protected by, and therefore identified with, their mothers.' And so boys feel that they need to prove to their peers that they are not homosexual. They do so by recklessly pursuing sexual experience with girls and by distancing themselves from meaningful friendships with other boys. Those who fail in both accounts are labeled as 'fags' and subjected to the torment that follows. Boys have always had a lot to prove, but added to their burden today is proof of their sexual identify.

My mother has often remarked that men, and Christian men in particular, go through life lonely--forsaken by other men who should be their friends. And I think she is right. I wonder if we, too, bear the burden of perverse assumptions. Maybe we, too, from our early days feel the need to prove that we are not homosexual. And we do this by fleeing emotional or spiritual intimacy with other men, assuming that such relationships are unworthy of men--real men.

The societal prevalence of homosexuality is not going to lessen anytime soon. While Christians must continue to insist that homosexuality cannot be reconciled with Scripture (and you may like to read Dr. Mohler's book to learn more about why this is the case) we must also not allow it to usurp friendship and to reframe the way we, as Christians, and Christian men, view and understand friendship. We have far too much to lose."

Read the whole thing

Death By Love

For those of you who read my blog, but not my roomate Roy's, he pointed me to a really cool video marketing Mark Driscoll's new book, Death by Love.

Os Guiness and doubt

Tim Challies pointed me to a post where Os Guiness is being interviewed mainly on the subject of doubt in the Christian life. The following is an excerpt from his book , now called "God in the Dark." I find it very helpful to understand how doubt is normal to the Christian life.

“Christianity places a premium on the absolute truthfulness and trustworthiness of God, so understanding doubt is extremely important to a Christian. Of course, faith is much more than the absence of doubt, but to understand doubt is to have a key to a quiet heart and a quiet mind. Anyone who believes anything will automatically know something about doubt. But the person who knows why he believes is also in a position to discover why he doubts. The Christian should be such a person.

Not only does a Christian believe, he is a person who ‘thinks in believing and believes in thinking,’ as Augustine expressed it. The world of Christian faith is not a fairy-tale, make-believe world, question-free and problem-proof, but a world where doubt is never far from faith's shoulder.

Consequently, a healthy understanding of doubt should go hand in hand with a healthy understanding of faith. We ourselves are called in question if we have no answer to doubt. If we constantly doubt what we believe and always believe-yet-doubt, we will be in danger of undermining our personal integrity, if not our stability. But if ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger still. It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy God more deeply.” (pp. 15-16).

The Beauty

I was just sitting outside at a local Starbucks, catching up on some reading, when a car drove by. Out came the shout, “You’re all a bunch of slaves.” Now, I’m guessing he thought everyone that hangs out at Starbucks is addicted not just to their coffee, but the atmosphere that it creates. His assumption is, that we worship this environment, therefore we are slaves to it. And I’m sure he thought he was not a slave to anything. He is above that.

I really wish he could have stopped, because I would have loved to have a conversation with him. I would ask him ,“Do you really think you’re not a slave to anything?” The truth is, he’s on to something. What we worship, what consumes us, does enslave us. But, the problem is, he probably thinks he is not controlled by anything that way. But that is lie. And I can say that with full confidence though I have no idea who he is.

Whether it’s hipster non-conformity, punk rock defiance, or any other independent feeling, that in itself can be, and will be worshipped. We’re all worshipping something: wealth, fame, recognition, intellect, sports, jobs, family, relationships, moral purity, etc. The key is to acknowledge whatever “that” is and ask the question, “Is it worthy of all my affection?”

Ironically, at the moment of the outburst, I was reading a paragraph by Plotinus about beauty. He says that there is the “good” that every soul desires. And he says that it is beautiful. Though, I don’t think he was trying to talk about God, he ends up describing what happens when you encounter Him, the greatest beauty that’s ever existed. Check it out:

“...one sees with one’s self alone That alone, simple, single and pure, from which all depends and to which all look and are and live and think for it is the cause of life and mind and being. If anyone sees it, what passion will he feel, what longing in his desire to be united with it, what a shock of delight! The man who has not seen it may desire it as good, but he who has seen it glories in its beauty and is full of wonder and delight, enduring a shock which causes no hurt, loving with true passion and piercing longing; he laughs at all other loves and despises what he thought beautiful before...If then one sees That which provides for all and remains by itself and gives to all but receives nothing into itself, if he abides in the contemplation of this kind of beauty and rejoices in being made like it, how can he need any other beauty?”

"For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary." (Psalm 96:5-6) "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:34)

I thought we didn't have a gas shortage

Just an FYI. For most of you reading this blog, you're probably here in the metro Atlanta area. And you've surely been exposed to the craziness around the gas pumps. Well, my tank was on E today, so I've been looking out my window all day at the BP across the street to see when gas would come in. I can now report that I was victorious. But, it took some time. Here's the flow of the afternoon.

3:10 - A coworker runs down the hall to tell me she spotted the gas truck pull in to BP.
3:11 - I am in my car and in line to get gas. There are about 20 cars in front of me (that I can see).
3:40 - I have not moved an inch. People are out of their cars, wondering what's going on. I have spent the last 29 minutes playing solitaire on my phone.
3:45 - Every gets back in their car with excited faces. The gas is soon to come.
3:50 - Still no movement from anyone.
3:55 - Finally, I start move up a car length.
4:05 - I get up to the entrance of the gas station. I see the fuller story. Not only is my line trying to get gas, but two other seperate entrances (one of which I don't think is an actual entrance) are bringing cars in. At this point maybe 60 cars are at this gas station of 16 pumps.
4:13 - I'm only 7 cars away from a pump. I see maybe 2 or 3 pumps on our side are out of order. I call my friend Ashley, and we chat about various things including the craziness in the financial world the last few days. I assure her our bank is very stable.
4:22 - I've finally arrived! I begin pumping.
4:32 - 10 minutes later, I've only got about 5 gallons. It's...moving...very...slowly. Also, I text my friend who works for the governor that he should tell Mr. Perdue, that there is a gas shortage, despite what he thinks.
4:45 - gas starts spewing out the side of my car, letting me know that my car is most likely full of gas.
4:46 - I finally leave the gas station an 1 hour and 35 minutes later, after filling up 17.4 gallons costing me $78.40. Hooray!!

Now, Sonny Perdue could be telling the truth, but it just doesn't make sense that people would wait for hours to get gas just to "top off." That's just my 78 dollars and 40 cents.

God's sovereignty and our responsibility to evangelize

Tim Challies has a really good post dealing with the much debated issue of God's sovereignty in salvation. Should we evangelize if we believe that God is fully sovereign in bringing someone to Christ? Yes. Why? Read below:

"To be consistent with Reformed theology we must say that if a person is one of the elect, he will come to faith and repentance. It is divinely predestined that this will happen and it is impossible for it not to happen. But God has not shared with us two vital pieces of information. He has not told us just who the elect are and how they will be brought to repentance. He has decreed that we are to share the message with everyone, in every way possible (within the bounds He sets in His Word). Charles Spurgeon once said "if all the elect had a white stripe on their backs I would quit preaching and begin lifting shirt tails" (or something to that effect). God has not put a visible mark on the elect, so we are to treat all men as if they are among the elect, and are to share the Gospel far and wide. We need to share it with a sense of urgency...

It is not difficult for a Christian to know if he has, indeed, evangelized. He has done so if he has proclaimed the message of sin, death, Savior and forgiveness. If he has done this he has evangelized successfully. He cannot and must not evaluate his efforts in the light of who responds to the message. Don Whitney likens the evangelist to the mailman. The mailman has fulfilled the obligation of his job when he has delivered the mail to me. The measure of success in his job is to carefully and accurately deliver the message. How I respond to the letters I receive is none of his concern. And the same is true of the evangelist. He faithfully delivers the message and leaves the results to God.

Ultimately we need to understand that God has not seen fit to share with us exactly how human responsibility and Divine sovereignty interact in evangelism. While we need to always remember that God is the only one who can bring about salvation, He has decreed that we will be the instruments He uses to take the Good News to the world. And that is what we must do, all the while asking God to equip us to be worthy ambassadors for Him."

Read the whole thing.

Another good summary of financial crisis

Jim Manzi gives us his take. As I've read a ton of articles about all this mess, this was one of the more interesting and big picture articles.

Larry Munson, UGA announcer from 1966-2008

There's already been a bunch of articles relaying to everyone the sad news that Larry Munson, the voice of the Dawgs, has retired. As I was reading over a few of them over on ESPN, I found myself getting goose bumps reading through some of the plays he called. He had a voice and a vocabulary that really brought the game alive. Here are three of my favorites.

This call came in 1980, UGA's championship season. We were playing Tennessee.

"We hand it off to Herschel. There's a hole. Five, 10, 12. He's running over people. Oh, you Herschel Walker! My God almighty! He ran right through two men. Herschel ran right over two men. They had him dead away inside the 9. Herschel Walker went 16 yards. He drove right over orange shirts just driving and running with those big thighs. My God, a freshman!"

This also came in 1980, as we were trailing Florida in Jacksonville, 21-20 in the 4th quarter.

"Florida in a stand-up five, they may or may not blitz. Belue third down on the 8. In trouble, he got a block behind him. Going to throw on the run, complete on the 25 to the 30. Lindsay Scott 35, 40. Lindsay Scott, 45, 50, 45, 40. Run Lindsay! 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! ... Well, I can't believe it. 92 yards and Lindsay really got in a foot race. I broke my chair. I came right through a chair. A metal steel chair with about a five-inch cushion. I broke it. The booth came apart. The stadium. ... Well the stadium fell down. Now they do have to renovate this place. They'll have to rebuild it now. This is incredible. You know this game has always been called the World's Greatest Cocktail Party. Do you know what's gonna happen here tonight? And up at Saint Simons and Jekyll Island and all those places where all those Dog people have got those condominiums for four days? Man, is there going to be some property destroyed tonight! 26-21, Dogs on top! We were gone. I gave up, you did too. We were out of it and gone. Miracle!"

The following call came back in 2001. It's probably become Munson's most famous call. I remember it very clearly. I was a sophomore and over at a friend's apartment. We had the TV on but muted, and Larry was bringing us the action. We were on the road at Tennessee and trailing by 4 in the 4th quarter. Tennessee scored and left us with about 50 seconds and one timeout. After going the length of the field, we only had time for one more play:

"Ten seconds. We're on their 6. Michael Johnson turned around asked the bench something. And now, Greene makes him line up on the right in the slot. We have three receivers. Tennessee playing what amounts to a 4-4. Fake and there's somebody. Touchdown! My God, a touchdown! We threw it to [fullback Verron] Haynes. We just stuffed them with five seconds left! My God almighty, did you see what he did? David Greene just straightened up and we snuck the fullback over! Haynes is keeping the ball! Haynes has come running all the way across to the bench. We just dumped it over, 26-24. We just stepped on their face with a hobnailed boot and broke their nose. We just crushed their faces!"

Also, check out Marisa's blog for a great video montage that is played before each home game that has Munson narrating.

Spiritual Disciplines lead us to the enjoyment of God

I'm still reading through a book about spiritual disciplines by Dallas Willard (see right sidebar for more info). One of the reasons I wanted to read the book in the first place was my perceived inability to rightly engage in them. In college, I was blessed by a ministry that showed me how to meet with God and how to get to know Him. Through disciplines such as bible study, scripture memory, prayer, fellowship, and evangelism, I grew in my understanding of who God was.

Over time however, I slowly began, without even me knowing it at the time, to equate my position in Christ to the doing of these spiritual disciplines. Ultimately it was a self-righteousness that was creeping in and distorting my view of who God was. After leaving college, and thus the constant accountability of a fellowship to continue in practicing these disciplines constantly, I began to become a little more lazy. And then I began to recognize that I had practiced many of the disciplines in college for the wrong reasons. I began developing a bad taste in my mouth for anything that I would count as a discipline for fear of doing it legalistically.

I believe I'm slowly starting to build up these disciplines again in my life in a healthy way, though it hasn't been easy. And in reading this book a few moments ago, I was struck and encouraged by what Willard has to say about all this. He says:

"Jesus was a master of life in the spirit. He showed us that spiritual strength is not manifested by great and extensive practice of the spiritual disciplines, but by little need to practice them and still maintain full spiritual life. To have misunderstood this point was the fundamental and devastating error of Christian asceticism in the Western church from the desert fathers up to the time of the Reformation. Yet when we look closely and continually as Jesus, we do not lose sight of this one fundamental, crucial point-the activities constituting the disciplines have no value in themselves. The aim and substance of spiritual life is not fasting, prayer, hymn singing, frugal living, and so forth. Rather, it is the effective and full enjoyment of active love of God and humankind in all the daily rounds of normal existence where we are placed. The spiritually advanced person is not the one who engages in lots and lots of disciplines, any more than the good child is the one who receives lots and lots of instruction or punishment."

That is a glorious truth for you and I to hear. How often I have focused on the disciplines themselves without understanding the end result enjoying God. He goes on to say this:

"The need for extensive practice of a given discipline is an indication of our weakness, not our strength. We can even lay it down as a rule of thumb that if it is easy for us to engage in a certain disciplines, we probably don't need to practice it. The disciplines we need to practice are precisely the ones we are not 'good at' and hence we do not enjoy."

May God give us strength to practice disciplines as we seek to enjoy Him.

Abortion and a woman changed by the gospel

Ray Ortlund recently posted this video. It's a brief interview with a girl who was supposed to be aborted years ago, but survived. She's now a pro-life activist and shares a little bit of her captivating story. It's a pretty sad reality to hear what really happens to babies who survive abortions, and then are put to death outside the womb.