CBS is taking a good deal of heat for its decision to air a commercial during next week's Super Bowl in which Tim Tebow's family talks about their decision not to abort their son, who has gone on to win College Football's most prestigious award, the Heisman trophy (Read more about Pam's decision not to abort Tim).
This week I've been reading through John Piper's book Finally Alive (read the book in its entirety for free here). I've been in a season of spiritual lethargy and weariness, and being reminded of God's sovereign work of begetting me anew has been an aid to my weary soul.I went to the March for Life rally Friday on the Mall expecting to write about its irrelevance. Isn’t it quaint, I thought, that these abortion protesters show up each year on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, even though the decision still stands after 37 years. What’s more, with a Democrat in the White House likely to appoint justices who support abortion rights, surely the Supreme Court isn’t going to overturn Roe in the foreseeable future.
How wrong I was. The antiabortion movement feels it’s gaining strength, even if it’s not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous.
As always, we in Washington enjoy an up-close view of the health of various causes because of the city’s role as the nation’s most important setting for political demonstrations. In this case, I was especially struck by the large number of young people among the tens of thousands at the march. It suggests that the battle over abortion will endure for a long time to come.
“We are the pro-life generation,” said signs carried by the crowd, about half its members appearing to be younger than 30. . . .
Activists who support abortion rights conceded that there’s less energy among young people on their side of the debate.
“Unfortunately, I feel my generation is a little complacent,” said Amanda Pelletier, 20, co-director of the abortion rights group at American University. “It just doesn’t seem to be a very hip issue.”
via Young activists adding fuel to antiabortion side – washingtonpost.com.
On Sunday in my sermon I mentioned that 70-90 % of abortion-minded women choose life if only they see an ultrasound of their baby. That's a pretty amazing statistic.
For those who read this blog and do not attend my church, I'd really recommend picking up a copy of The Trellis and the Vine for your pastor.
Justin Taylor posted a quote today from Dorothy Sayers in an essay titled, "Why Work?"Thoughts?The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.
. . . Let the Church remember this: that every maker and worker is called to serve God in his profession or trade—not outside of it. The Apostles complained rightly when they said it was not meant they should leave the word of God and serve tables; their vocation was to preach the word. But the person whose vocation it is to prepare the meals beautifully might with equal justice protest: It is not meant for us to leave the service of our tables to preach the word.
The official Church wastes time and energy, and moreover, commits sacrilege, in demanding that secular workers should neglect their proper vocation in order to do Christian work—by which she means ecclesiastical work. The only Christian work is good work well done. Let the Church see to it that the workers are Christian people and do their work well, as to God: then all the work will be Christian work, whether it is Church embroidery or sewage-farming.
A great quote from Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer for Christians:
Kevin DeYoung, quoting a Wall Street Journal study:According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent broadcasts, and similar estimates by researchers, the average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes.
In other words, if you tally up everything that happens between the time the ball is snapped and the play is whistled dead by the officials, there’s barely enough time to prepare a hard-boiled egg. In fact, the average telecast devotes 56% more time to showing replays.
Read the rest here.The Bible is pretty clear that earthquakes, and other natural disasters, are a part of this world because of sin. After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God cursed the entire creation and “subjected it to futility” (Romans 8:20). So earthquakes exist because of human rebellion against God. But it’s not just the people of Haiti who are at fault; it’s all of us, because Adam acted as our representative, and so we are all guilty (Romans 5). It seems as though Pat Robertson ignores this reality in his public comments following every calamity. He basically did the same thing after 9/11 and Katrina. It is always somebody else’s sin that is the problem, and he never publicly seems to own up to his own sin as being a part of the problem with the world.
That is probably why so many people can’t stand him. Sometimes Christians are called to experience hostility from the world for the sake of Christ, but it seems to me that Robertson experiences hostility because of his own arrogance and insensitivity, not for the sake of Christ. In his public comments, he does not demonstrate a contrition and humility that flow out of understanding how desperate his own situation is because of sin, and knowing that salvation by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ is his only hope.
In Luke 13, Jesus was asked about a calamity in Galilee, and His response is insightful for this whole situation. Jesus said,
“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
So I think if Jesus was asked about the earthquake in Haiti, He might say, “Do you think that the people of Haiti were worse sinners than all other human beings? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” That is God’s word to us, I believe, in the face of the pain and horrors of this world. Earthquakes exist because we live in a fallen world in which humans have rebelled against our Maker.
The people of Haiti are no more guilty than I am. Yet Jesus came into the world not only to speak eloquently about calamities, but to experience cosmic calamity on the Cross. In His crucifixion, Jesus willingly took upon Himself the judgment of God that we deserved for our sin. Through faith in Him, we can receive forgiveness of sins and be reconciled to God, needing no longer to fear His anger and condemnation. When we have come into relationship with God through Jesus, we can have hope that even the biggest storms and calamities of this world will ultimately work for our good, because that is what He has promised to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
So in the face of the devastation in Haiti, Christians are called to love and sacrificially serve those who have been affected by this earthquake. And, like Jesus, we are called to remind everyone that their earthquake will come one day as well. Through repentance and faith in the crucified and risen Christ, we can be rescued from the coming wrath that will make this earthquake seem like an amusement park. He is our only hope.
What do you think of Robertson's remarks (or mine)? Leave a comment and let me know...
Locals look for their beloved among the dead bodies outside the morgue, in Port-au-Prince.
A faithful reader emailed me this article from CNN's website about how the movie Avatar is making people depressed because of the picture of a utopia called Pandora that the movie depicts. One viewer said this:I tried for hours this morning to access the internet, though it wasn’t responding.
I don’t do that with God. Do you?
Richard Lewontin is a committed Darwinist, which means his basic worldview is that of materialism: matter alone constitutes ultimate reality, and everything that exists is the product of strict physical laws and blind random chance.Washington Post writer Michael Gerson, on the Brit Hume/Tiger Woods ordeal:
True tolerance consists in engaging deep disagreements respectfully — through persuasion — not in banning certain categories of argument and belief from public debate.
In this controversy, we are presented with two models of discourse. Hume, in an angry sea of loss and tragedy — his son’s death in 1998 — found a life preserver in faith. He offered that life preserver to another drowning man. Whatever your view of Hume’s beliefs, he could have no motive other than concern for Woods himself.
The other model has come from critics such as Shales, in a spittle-flinging rage at the mention of religion in public, comparing Hume to “Mary Poppins on the joys of a tidy room, or Ron Popeil on the glories of some amazing potato peeler.” Shales, of course, is engaged in proselytism of his own — for a secular fundamentalism that trivializes and banishes all other faiths. He distributes the sacrament of the sneer.
Who in this picture is more intolerant?
Here's the problem. A pro-life advocate makes a moral claim that he/she believes is objectively true: that elective abortion unjustly takes the life of a defenseless human being. The advocate of abortion-choice responds by turning that objective truth claim into a preference, like preferring chocolate ice cream to vanilla.
John Stott:
"If you're not familiar with the Bible, just turn to very end and thumb a few pages backwards. The large numbers are the chapters, and the smaller numbers are the verse numbers. We are going to begin in chapter 21, verse 1 today..."
So it seems that some Christians (a lot?) get irked by the way that "Happy Holidays" has become the predominant way of greeting people in the second half of Decemeber. They are frustrated that it's just another way in which Christ is being marginalized in our society.
Whitney also offers an additional 21 questions to help us “consider our ways,” which can be read here.The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.
- What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
- What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
- What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
- In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
- What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
- What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
- For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
- What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?
- What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
- What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?
