The Goodness of God and the Suffering of the Faithful

How do we reconcile the love of God with the suffering of the Church? How do we reconcile the idea that "all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose" with the fact that most Christians throughout the world are afflicted and --what's worse-- forgotten?

Need some answers? Here's an attempt...

The only way a deaf and blind world can hear and see the gospel message is by seeing it in our lives. The only way the life of Christ can reach the nations is by us following his incarnation, submitting to God's will, and presenting ourselves in all of our vulnerability.

Read more here.

Honoring the Wife

I just ran across the following thoughts from Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church. Biblically thoughtful and challengingly practical...

Now, my tone is for the men. We speak to men differently than women. Were this a women’s conference, I would not call you all idiots and imbeciles and fools, that you’re a joke, okay? But you men, this is where it needs to go. You’ve been glad-handed and buddied up and positive thinking and you’re a winner and Jesus loves you and you can do better. And I’m telling you, you’re a joke. And the real men in the room know it and they see it. And maybe there’s one woman that you fooled and she doesn’t see it because like Eve, she’s deceived.

[To continue reading, click here.]

"And the Heavens Were Silent"

At the crucifixion of Christ, we see the heart of Man...
We see hatred and fear.
We see rejection and grasping.
We see anger and mockery.
We see bitterness and rage.

At the crucifixion of Christ, we see the heart of God.
We see One who loves without limit.
We see One who embraces suffering.
We see One who invites humiliation upon Himself.
We see One who is –without reservation– concerned with His beloved.
We see One who is utterly and perfectly self-giving.

At the crucifixion of Christ...
The eternal Father did not turn His back upon His eternally-begotten Son;
Rather, He turned His face in horrific anguish and incomparable pain.

At the crucifixion of Christ...
God embraced the suffering of Man.
God was spat upon.
God was mocked.
God was rejected.
God felt the paralyzing fear and cold bitterness of death.

At the crucifixion of Christ...
Matter was embraced.
Humanity was redeemed.
God and Man were reconciled in the Person of the crucified Creator.
The One who is the very source and ground of life was put to death.

And the heavens were silent...

Thoughts concerning John 13-17...

I am astonished, considering the context of these chapters in the life of Xp, by the content therein. This, the last night of Jesus with His disciples, and what does He do?

He washes feet.
He institutes the Supper.

Judas, who has already received his pay of 30 pieces, has already begun his betrayal and is yet at table – being washed and being served.

“This is My body...”
“This is My blood...”

Remember...

And what else? He teaches.

Oh, does He teach... concerning – among other topics and themes – the nature of God, the glory of God, the presence of God, the Spirit of God, and the will of God.

Having prayed, He is arrested – betrayed by a kiss.

Thoughts Concerning Scantily-Clad Young Ladies

I ran across this article this afternoon and found it to be an honest and telling piece of thought. I appreciate the writer's candidness, but I certainly regret that she leaves us hanging without ideas for either containment or correction. Perhaps, she herself doesn't know the answer to the all-evasive question, "Okay. So, now what?"

In the pale-turquoise ladies' room, they congregate in front of the mirror, re-applying mascara and lip gloss, brushing their hair, straightening panty hose and gossiping: This one is "skanky," that one is "really cute," and so forth. Dressed in minidresses, perilously high heels, and glittery, dangling earrings, their eyes heavily shadowed in black-pearl and jade, they look like a flock of tropical birds. A few minutes later, they return to the dance floor, where they shake everything they've got under the party lights.

But for the most part, there isn't all that much to shake. This particular group of party-goers consists of 12- and 13-year-old girls. Along with their male counterparts, they are celebrating the bat mitzvah of a classmate in a cushy East Coast suburb.

[Read the entire article...]

On the Importance of Study as a Spiritual Discipline

I am currently involved in a small group which meets on Sunday evenings in the home of a family in our church. We are currently studying Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster, and each week, we share and discuss our answers to questions I have developed related to the chapter at hand.

The following is an answer I wrote in response to the question, 'How does study contribute to the fulfillment of the purpose of the Spiritual Disciplines?'

The purpose of the Disciplines is the total transformation of the person, having been made in the divine image, also being remade in said image (i.e., conformity to the image of Xp). Our transformation particularly pertains to the renewal of the mind, us being called to share the mind of Xp, study being used by God as the primary vehicle through which we encounter those thoughts, or ideas, which bring the mind of God (Phil. 4:8; cf. truth, goodness, beauty).

A Brief Critique of Part 1 from an Interview with Ayn Rand (1959)

This is very interesting and quite telling. Where I think she's missing the conception of self-giving love in Christian thought is in that love -if it is to be LOVE- is in it's very nature free and uncompelled. What's more: the Christian Faith certainly recognizes varying degrees, origins, and characteristics of love. There is certainly erotic love, love for one's self (i.e., the lover) to be satisfied by the object of love (i.e., the beloved). There is common love (i.e., brotherly love), by which there is a unity of interest and intention. There is, further, self-giving (as she'd call it, self-sacrificing) love, which is free and personal, rooted certainly in the value of the other, whether it'd be a virtuous sort or (as in the case of the imago Dei) an intrinsic sort.

Some Thoughts on John 3:22-36...

"While John the Baptizer affirms the superiority of Jesus over himself, I find it interesting what he then says about eternal life, belief, and obedience...

"Those who believe in the Son have eternal life, while those who neglect obedience neither have nor will have --so long as they disobey-- eternal life. But, so long as they willfully remain in disobedience to the Son, they remain under the judgment of God.

"Interesting juxtaposition, to say the least. Theologically, this is a profound thought by John, and I'm reminded in it of Bonhoeffer's call to quit giving lack of faith as an excuse to be negligent in regards to obeying Xp: Obey Him and you will trust Him."

questions I've been asking the youth

The following is a list of passages and questions our youth have been reading and answering on Thursday nights this Advent as we gather at the Daily Grind for coffee and study...


Luke 1:26-38
What are your favorite memories of the Christmas season?
What do you like most about Christmastime?
How important / meaningful is Christmas to you, and why?
In what ways are you willing to prepare for Christmas this year?

Luke 1:39-56
What does Advent have to do with the presence of Christ?
How does the presence of Christ effect sin?
How does the presence of Christ affect you?
Do others see the presence of Christ in your life; if so or not, why and how?

Matthew 1:18-25
How does the presence of Christ affect the way you treat others?
Are your relationships characterized by love? if so, how? if not, why?
What does Christmas tell us about the nature of God?
How would you rate (1-10) your preparation for this Christmas? Why?

A Gay Christian?

Below are some thoughts I shared in response to some seemingly confused and obviously hurtful words regarding homosexuality and the Christian Faith. These thoughts were shared by me in a discussion on Facebook where it seemed that some spoke without any consideration to others, while others spoke without anything that even appeared to be a healthy sampling of coherent biblical understanding. Still others, however, showed themselves to be -perhaps unknowingly- means of grace and conduits of God's holy love. Be sure, though, that the original discussion seemed to be well-intentioned and even a worth-while discussion concerning a very serious and timely matter...

1. It seems that some folks here need to define the terms. (What does it mean to BE a Christian? What does it mean to BE a homosexual? Are we talking about tendencies or actions? After all, the very foundation of debate itself is to define one's terms.)

2. There is a wide chasm between unadulterated truth-speaking and intentional humiliation and degradation of another person made in the image of God. I myself loath political correctness, but I hate even more intentionally harmful words spoken with the greatest of arrogance and highest of raised fists.

3. Anyone who'd say that all sin is just alike -even in the eyes of God- is either biblically illiterate, sadly mistaken, or grasping for the barest of straws to cover his own nakedness. There is a multiplicity of terms for sin in both the New and Old Testaments of Scripture. There is likewise a variety of both degrees and consequences of sin in Scripture. To be certain, all sin leads to death, but be also aware that death comes at varying speeds. There is no way a person can morally -or even theologically / biblically- equate raping another person to speaking a lie to said person.

4. If sin is not healed, it will -like any disease- bring eventual death. Sins can be forgiven, but SIN can only be healed. They can be put in the past, but IT must be finally dealt with, not ignored, not passed over, not over looked, not called okay... Healing is the need: healing is the prescription.

5. "The LOVE of Christ compels us..."

6. "The KINDNESS of God leads to repentance...."

Mightier Than Mind?

...The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal...

-C. S. Lewis, from the closing paragraph of "The Weight of Glory"

Tonight, the thought occurred to me that there is something quite possibly more powerful than reason: friendship.

The burned-out cliche reads, "People don't care how much you know till they know how much you care."

I, for one, boarder-line loath cliches, particularly the cutesie ones, but for probably the first time in my life of ministry, this one has just now rung true. For what are people with honest questions, real hesitations, and sincere doubts looking? Not folks with answers, confidence, and certainties.

Do I have some answers? Sure, I at least think that I do. Am I confident? Well, not at all times and in every manner, but yeah, at least in matters of faith. Are there some things of which I am certain? Certainly. [By the way, my rule of thumb regarding doubts is that I will not sacrifice what I know for that which I do not know.]

This coming Wednesday holds some significance for me... I'm going to have the opportunity to spend some time with someone I'm beginning to consider a real friend. This person seems to have some major questions, some serious hesitations, and some significant doubts. I've been given an open door to simply sit, listen, and perhaps talk a bit, and all I want to do is be a friend...

To Make God Perfect?

During the Sunday morning sermon a few weeks, I made a statement along these lines...

"Until the Cross, God was not perfect."

To be perfectly honest, I don't quite remember the wording, but these words at least capture the emphasis that I was certainly making. Fair enough?

At the time, I was wrestling with the passage in Hebrews that says:

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (2:10)

In several other places, the writer of Hebrews makes mention of the concept that our High Priest -Christ, the Son of God (God incarnate), that is- has been made perfect (i.e., "being perfected", "having been perfected", etc.).

Here's where we run into the seeming problem... If Christ is the Son of God and no less God than the Father, wasn't He already "perfect"? In what sense does the Cross of Christ perfect the One it bore?

First, the idea of being perfect, here, is the Greek idea. The Hebrews author isn't speaking to the perfection of the divine attributes of God. Rather, it seems, he's engaging us with the idea of perfection as the goal-oriented concept that the Greek term telos captures. The purposed goal in the heart of God was that the Son, the One through whom we were created, might redeem us by stepping into our predicament. Until -in the realm of time and space- that happened, the goal had not been met.

Second, even in the realm of eternity, it seems that in keeping with the divine nature, it is only fitting for the triune God to bear in Himself the sufferings of Man made in the divine image. Christ, being the very image of the Father, serves as Mediator between God and Man, becoming the theanthropic Person (lit., the God-Man) so that He might redeem those made in said image. Having been created in the image, they should be redeemed in the image. Were it not for the Suffering of the Son, for the Cross of Christ, God's heart and mind it seems would fall short of what it truly is. In other words, if God intends to save through suffering and then does not save through suffering, He is less than what He intended to be.

Please do bear with these thoughts, for they are weeks old and haven't been well-developed. Please also feel free to challenge, critique, or rebuke.

Day 5

Some Scripture:

“Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.”

-Philippians 2:12-18 (NLT)

Some Reflection:

As we prepare to depart from one another's presence at camp, we do so in appreciation of one another and with a tremendous opportunity before us. We are being commissioned by the Lord of the harvest to go out into the fields of this world and live like brilliant testaments of His brightness. In doing so, we have the potential within ourselves to live successfully faithful Christian lives – not separately as if islands off to ourselves, but in joyous community with one another. You can be a success story for God; I can be a success story for God. You and I together can encourage one another, celebrate with one another, and challenge one another.

As Paul understood it, we need each other – even if for nothing else, to be able to confidently recognize the benefits of our unique investments into one another. I need to see that what I have done for you has not been in vain, and you need to know the same concerning your investment in me.

A successful Christian life, however, is one of uncompromising loyalty to Christ – not one of grumbling and bickering and – God forbid – filthiness, but a life of obedience, a life that reflects Him. Paul boldly affirms that, if you and I are going to live a lives like this, we have a part to play. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” You don't save yourself, for it is only by grace that you have been saved. Nevertheless, as the Church Father said long ago, “The God who made you apart from yourself will not save you apart from yourself.” If you are going to live obediently for God, guess what... only you can do it. But the good news is that, as Paul also affirms, “It is God who works in you both to will and do His good pleasure.” The Christian life is not a life of being off by oneself, left to one's own devices and abilities, trying to please God who is far away. No, the Christian life is a life lived in the power of the ever-near and personally-indwelling Holy Spirit, a life that is also surrounded by and bathed in Christian fellowship and loyalty.

Now, as camp draws to its close and having made our respective marks on one another, it's time to go and make our marks on the world. The world is waiting. Jesus is waiting. You are a unique person, complete with a unique mark to be made. If you don't make it, sadly enough, it will be left unmade. Are you in?

Day 4

Some Scripture:

“A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

-Luke 6: 43-45 (NLT)

Some Reflection:

There is a song by mewithoutYou called “Bullet to Binary (part 2).” In it, Aaron Weiss says, “We all well know, we’re gonna reap what we sow. We all well know what kind of crops are gonna grow.”

It is no big secret to any of us that when you plant an apple seed, you will not grow anything other than an apple tree, which will then produce... that's right: apples. We are fairly intelligent people who do not expect a tomato plant to just jump up from the plot of ground where we have planted peppers. We also do not expect to look out in our yards and suddenly see rose bushes budding and blooming where no rose bushes were first planted.

Why is it, then, that we expect to see something simply come out of our lives that did not get planted there? Why do we so often think that we will be good people when we do not put anything good into ourselves? It's strange: so many of us think that they will somehow miraculously begin producing fruit in their lives when no seeds are planted. Let's face it: either some of us are just weird or some of us have really fooled ourselves into believing such a thing that is a far cry from reality.

We think we will be good people merely by wishing to be good. All the while knowing that no amount of wishful thinking will grow a tomato plant, why would we even begin to think that it would be any different with the fruit of our lives?

Be honest with yourself. What kind of seeds are you planting in your life? What kind of crops will you grow? Everyone else can see them – it isn't really a secret. Are you planting seeds that are good and will grow into good fruit for everyone to see and enjoy? Or are you planting seeds of evil that will grow into something in which no one wants a part? Will you be happy with the fruit of your life, or will you be embarrassed for others to see what you reap?

To quote another mewithoutYou song, “A glass can only spill what it contains.” Regarding your life, what's in it? You should know; you've played a part in getting it there.

Day 3

Some Scripture:

“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.
Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.
They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.
You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully.
Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!
Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands.
As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should!
I will obey your decrees. Please don't give up on me!”

-Psalm 119:1-8 (NLT)

Some Reflection:

Okay, let's face it... If you are really going to “make your mark” in the world, it's time to “man-up” [Sorry, ladies.]. If you really want to be who you were intended to be in Christ, in His Church, and in the world He has both created and given His life to redeem, it's time to get serious, and the most serious response to God's grace is a life of radical faith and unwavering obedience. That's right: faith and obedience. As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there's no other way...”

The odd thing is that obedience to the Lord is not stifling or suffocating; it does not make us less free or less “our own persons”. No, in fact, when you are obedient to Him, it brings joy, for you are being – far more than you might realize – you, who God has intended you to be. Come on, you know what the whole line from the hymn is: “...For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”

Only a life of joyful obedience is a life that can make an irreplaceably positive mark on the world. Only a life of uncompromising loyalty to God, His will, and His way makes an eternal investment of redeeming importance into the lives of others. Only a life that faithfully follows the Lord, walking in His way, is a life that need not be ashamed, for it alone is an appropriate expression of thankfulness for His goodness and an undeniable reflection of His life and love.

A couple of interesting ideas are presented in the first two verses of this, the lengthiest of all our Old Testament psalms: First, in answer to the question, “Who is the obedient one?” the psalmist boldly answers, “Oh, that's simple... the one who searches for God with all of his heart, with every ounce of the fabric of his being.” Second, in answer to the question, “Well, then, what is the result?” the psalmist shockingly answers, “Oh, a remarkable life of integrity.” You probably know that to have integrity means to be one thing – nothing else, nothing mixed, not an alloy, but a single substance. The barrel of sugar that has a pinch – or for that matter, a single granule – of salt in it does not have integrity, for it is tainted. The result of living in faithful obedience to God, seeking for Him with all of who we are, is that we are whole and put together – not a collection of parts, not a disjointed combination of compartments, but one thing... pure and immovable.

Day 2

Some Scripture:

“ Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

“As God's partner's, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and then ignore it. For God says,
'At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.'

Indeed, the 'right time' is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

-II Corinthians 5:11-6:2 (NLT); quote from Isaiah 49:8

Some Reflection:

Paul here has a whole lot to say, so let's boil it down a bit...

Just as salvation is not just about us, so salvation is not just for us. God desires all to be redeemed and, hence, reconciled to Him, even remade into His image.

That means that, as C. S. Lewis said so bluntly, “You've never met a mere mortal.” In other words, each person – not just you – is uniquely of more value that you can imagine. Consequentially, each person has greater potential to be something either incredibly good and beautiful in Christ or something incredibly terrible and horrendous apart from Him.

Whether you like it or not, God has sent you an invitation, and you must, therefore, accept it or refuse it. He has invited you to be a part of His redemption in the lives of others, and to this invite you must R. S. V. P.

Dennis Kinlaw makes the profound point that God always works through others; no person is saved apart from the influence of another. Are you in, or are you out? If you are in, you are in for the greatest ride of a lifetime, and even if you look like a fool, who really cares? If you are out, I'm so sorry; you really are missing out.

Day 1

Some Scripture:

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

-Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT)

Some Reflection:

In the context of expressing the miraculous grace that infuses new life – God's life - into the believer, Paul makes an intriguing statement: “...We are God's masterpiece.” Other translations might phrase it, “...We are God's workmanship.” However you put it, what cannot be denied is that each particular believer is special in the eyes of God, and as a result, each particular believer is being crafted into something more special than we can even imagine: a person conformed into the image of Christ.

The strange thing about persons, though, is that they are... strange. Think of it: You have never met another you. In fact, you have never met two persons who were exactly alike. Even identical twins are unique persons – complete with unique personalities, experiences, fears, tastes, likes, and dislikes. No two are quite alike. Persons are irreplaceable, and according to the intentional design of their Maker and Redeemer, it is precisely their unique expression of His image that both gives them dignity and makes them invaluable.

As you begin this week of intentionally searching for God's fullness to be actualized in your life, remember – first – that you are you, and there is no other. And – second – remember that He doesn't want too much: He just wants you... all of you. You are a masterpiece; you are His masterpiece.

Camp Devotions...

Lindsey and I were charged with planning and putting together this year's camp for the southeast region of our denomination.

So, in addition to all of the laborious work involved in preparing for a youth camp, the wife and I took it upon ourselves to write daily devotions for the adults attending camp this past week. We thought it would be helpful to give them a daily framework from which they might share some devotional thoughts with the youth in their cabins each day. The idea was to give the counselors a passage of scripture, help them to quickly flesh it out in their minds, have them read the passage with those in their cabins, have them possibly make a couple of comments, and finally have them close in prayer. This was to take place each morning so as to accomplish a couple of things:

-first, to begin the day well;

-second, to instill into their youth the reality that beginning the day well is actually possible when it, of course, is intentional.

Now, you are prepared for what will follow... [those devotions]

A Boy Becomes a Man...

So, the other day, something odd happened...

Around lunchtime, Lindsey was at home alone with the kids, and she heard a noise out back. Looking out the back French doors, she saw a young lady running down the stairs of our deck. Then, looking out a side window, she watched the girl running off with a half-empty bag of charcoal, taken from our deck. A few minutes later, Lucas began barking, and Lindsey saw a young man on our back deck looking around my grill and smoker. She went out on the deck, certainly startling the young man, and asked him what he was doing. He made up what he thought to be a clever story about his dog running through our back yard, only to be shocked when Lindsey asked if he needed some charcoal to help find the pooch. Lindsey gave him the ol' heave-ho, only to be interrupted a few minutes later by the doorbell. The two busted thieves stood on the front deck, bag of nabbed charcoal in hand, and tried to make sense of their senseless actions of thievery. "We thought no one was home..." And that justifies your actions, how? Lindsey kindly told the two busted "criminals" that she would have gladly given them the charcoal if they had but asked like good neighbors. But, there they stood as thieves, surely regretful, though most probably only because they had gotten caught.

If you know me at all, you probably know that I hate confrontation. Probably the only thing I hate worse than confrontation is for people to dislike me. [Why am I in ministry, you ask? I have no rational idea. What can I say, but that I'm a masochist?]

The predicament in which I found myself: I was confident that these kids hadn't told their parents. In fact, I wasn't even sure of who these kids were. I did, however, know that they either lived next door or were visiting the family next door. I also knew that I am both a husband and a father, that the parent's next door needed to know what happened, and that I suddenly found myself with the responsibility of telling them that either their kids or dear friends of their kids had stolen from their new next-door neighbors.

Therefore, a confrontation must occur, and I would certainly feel weird about what the new neighbors might be thinking about me. Oh, well... A man I must be. After all, I have a couple of factors in my home that could prove deadly for a couple of idiot teenagers snooping around my home: babies and handguns. These kids next door needed to know, first, that I will not tolerate thievery, and second, that their actions were more stupid then they even know at the time. [This young couple living next door - That's right, the couple with the adorable little kids. - we have guns for crying out loud! We are the last people you should be "robbing"!]

In the nicest way possible, I brought the situation to the attention of the father of the family. He was terribly embarrassed and completely remorseful. I ended our conversation explaining that I am willing to do anything I can, even give anything I can, to be a good neighbor to him and his family - just so long as it's not taken...

The next morning, on my front porch was a brand new bag of charcoal. Well, there you go.

A Refreshingly-Unadulterated Swing of the Axe at the Very Root of the Problem:

Thursday, July 02, 2009

SEX: GOOD, BABIES: BAD
By Kortney Blythe


This mindset seems to be the theme in this week’s news from the frontlines of the pro-death camp.

Take for instance, this quote by Elisabeth Garber-Paul in an article on the rise in sexual activity during this economic recession: "So join the rest of America in this exciting new trend. Save money, stay in, have sex—just don’t make a baby."

That’s right, Elisabeth, throw respect for yourself out the window and spit in the face of God by removing one of his intentions for intercourse. More babies will just make the economy worse, right? Wrong. In fact, one of the reasons we are even in this recession is because of the plummeting birthrate. There simply aren’t enough people to replace the retiring population in the workplace and pay for social security or to stimulate the economy.

Not that you’ll hear about that from the anti-human, overpopulation zealots. But, do your research. Watch Demographic Winter and Demographic Bomb, two documentaries which debunk the overpopulation myth and ask the very important question: IS IT POSSIBLE WE HAVE BEEN FAILED BY THE VERY IDEAS WE THOUGHT COULD SAVE US?

It goes without saying that abortion advocates think saving sex for marriage is ludicrous and archaic. ....Just check out the title of a book just released by radical feminist Jessica Valenti, The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women.

In an interview on RH Reality Check, the author, Valenti, purports that teaching and honoring purity is just as dangerous as the media’s “pressure on sexuality and the hypersexualization of women.” Oh really? So, protecting young people from the heartbreak and emptiness of pre-marital sex, not to mention a load of sexually transmitted diseases, is akin to the objectification of women, the result of which has been a generation of depressed, confused girls with eating disorders?

She goes on to say, “The purity myth is so embedded in our culture and our psyches…You don't have to be forcing your daughter to take a virginity pledge in order for the fiction of virginity to affect your life.” Really? Then, why does every Hollywood film end (or begin) with a couple jumping in bed together? If it’s so “embedded” in our culture then why are abortion, STD and teen pregnancy rates so high? (I’m not going to even legitimize her term “fiction of virginity” with a response).

As if that isn’t enough, in Greensboro, NC a new program is paying high school girls to not get pregnant. That’s right. For every day they stay baby-free, $1 is deposited into an account to be used for college. According to WXII12 news, the group was founded by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies. Ms. Brown, how about seeing the root of the problem - too many teens are having pre-marital sex. The problem is NOT the presence of a baby, but the actions of his mother, which resulted in his existence.

The three goals of this program, called College-Bound Sisters, are for the girls to “avoid pregnancy, graduate from high school and enroll in college,” Brown said. Oh, what lofty goals we have for our young people!....
Teenagers rise to the expectations that are set for them. If all we ask is that they avoid pregnancy (and bonus! we’ll pay you for it), what are we teaching girls about sex, relationships, the value of children or personal responsibility, for that matter?

Instead of urging purity and self-control and demonstrating the joys of a quiver full of children (Psalm 127:4-5) within marriage, this program bribes young girls. If those same girls were taught basic biblical morality they wouldn’t be having sex, and thus, there would be no chance of pregnancy.

The message of this program in a nutshell: Go ahead and sin against God by having damaging pre-marital sex, but just make sure you avoid one of the outcomes – babies.

If only young people knew the joy and blessings they are missing out on when they use sex for purely physical and selfish reasons! Then, and only then, they would cherish chastity as it should be.

To my unmarried friends reading this, please flee from this deadly mentality of me-first, pleasure seeking, sex without consequences. Seek righteousness, pursue holiness and practice chastity.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
-2 Timothy 3:1-5