Pro Choice Advocate Agrees with Tebow

This article highlights the commentary from Sally Jenkins, a pro-choice sportswriter from the Washington Post.  Her comments are certainly fair and demonstrate that there can still be civil disagreement in America.  Though she does not agree completely with Tebow’s pro-life advocacy (she is pro-choice), she does understand how critical it is for him to have a voice.  Even more, she seems to get the point that feminists miss:  Tim Tebow has a very high regard for women and is not serially abusing them like many athletes tend to do.  The outrage from groups such as NOW only betrays the lack of concern these groups actually have for women.  Their goal is not to support women but to encourage abortion.  Hats off to Sally Jenkins for her insight and courage in pointing out their duplicity.

So. Baptists Accused Kidnapping

I had heard that the churches involved in the Haiti incident with orphaned children were not Southern Baptist churches, but this BP article states that the 2 Idaho churches were Southern Baptist.  The situation is not at all clear.  Obviously, kidnapping was not the goal, but that has been one of the charges against the Christians who were seeking to rescue the kids.

Saints Fan

Not that you should be wavering at this point, but if you are looking for a reason to be a Saints fan, try reading this article about Drew Brees, a true saint.  Just the right encouragement before the big game next week.

Pro Choice (just not that kind)

If you read this article, you hear the complaints from so-called “Women’s” Groups decrying the Super Bowl ad from Tim Tebow and Focus on the Family.  These abortion advocates are lobbying CBS to get the ad pulled.  Ironically, they are upset with CBS because Focus on the Family is supposed to be “anti-choice” and homophobic and all the rest.  But the tables are turned on these women’s groups.  Does CBS not have the right to choose who gives them 2.5 million for an ad?  Does Focus on the Family not have the right to choose to buy an ad for its organization?  Does Tim Tebow not have the right to choose to speak up for what he believes?  And, does Pam Tebow not have the right to choose to give birth to a little boy who would later become the best college football player ever?  Pro-choice, it seems, only applies to abortion.

To Tattoo or Not to Tattoo

Chances are, you have had opportunities to consider whether tattoos are an acceptable option for Christians.  The question is debated on the basis of Leviticus 19:28.  It is worth considering.  You may find this Q & A with Dr. Russ Moore helpful as he gives advice to a young man concerning whether he ought to get a tattoo.

Gracing Cain

Can you imagine being kind to the thief who stole your new mp3 player?  On two different occasions, my wife has had her purse and its contents stolen.  I can recall many of our thoughts in response to the theft: anger, cursing, bitterness.  We had a strange feeling of being violated and vulnerable, realizing just how powerless we sometimes are in the face of evil.  One thing I am certain we never thought of as a response is grace.  We never thought of being gracious toward the perpetrator.

The fact that I never revert to grace in times like these is surely evidence of lingering depravity in my own heart, highlighting yet more areas of my life in which I need to be conformed to Christ.  But there is something more.  I cannot comprehend the grace of God.  I mean, think of Christ.  He told his followers to pray for those who persecute them.  Pray for the guy scourging you with a whip.  In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul instructs us to “Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.”  Pray for and bless those who unjustly attack you?  What is going on here?  From where does such thinking arise?

Turns out, this thinking is rooted in the nature of God Himself.  Chapter 4 of Genesis is remarkable in many ways.  Genesis 4 is the story of the first martyrdom and the first instance of persecution.  Just as chapter 3 of Genesis is crucial for understanding the nature of sin, so, too, is chapter 4 crucial for understanding the nature of persecution.  Perhaps the most unlikely reality of persecution in chapter 4 is God’s response to it.  God acts extremely graciously toward Cain.  He does not kill Cain on the spot.  He offers him the chance to live.  To which grace, Cain complains in the face of God that the penalty is unjust.  Unjust? Why does God not breathe fire from his nostrils and torch the unrepentant Cain there on the spot?  I don’t know. I can’t figure it out.  It must be grace.  Only grace.

The Limits of Sin

Reading through Genesis 3 leaves the impression that sin is essentially explained in that chapter.  The first sin of the race offers the framework by which all other sin can be assessed and understood.

For me, one of the most striking aspects of sin as pictured in Genesis 3 is just how limiting sin proves to be.  Notice that the tempter had to take Eve’s mind away from the infinite blessings God had bestowed upon her.  The tempter caused Eve to forget the infinite bounty that was before her just awaiting her exploration; instead, the tempter got Eve to focus on a single tree with a single fruit in view.

In essence, all sin works this way.  It makes one very small piece of creation become more important to you than all of creation.  The whole earth belonged to Eve and Adam, but that was not enough.  They traded it all for a single fruit.  Whether our “fruit” is a pill, a woman, a man, a bottle, a juicy bit of gossip, or an extra dollar worth lying for–our fruit is the same as Adam and Eve’s; it is one little tiny part of creation which we have made ourselves to believe is worth all of creation.  We make very small things large in our own eyes.

This means our lust is fueled not by reality, but by our appetites.  We want to believe in the bigness of the little fruit.  We make it big by pursuing it with heavy panting and constant craving.  God is not fooled, however, and still sees the little thing for what it is: very small indeed.

If we would but turn to God in Christ, we would see what a massively glorious creature He is.  Then we would know BIG!  Then we would pant and crave to capture his inexhaustible glory.  Then we would be fulfilled because whatever bigness we ascribe to God would prove not to have been big enough.  He will always exceed our expectations of Him.

How ironic that sin limits us to such very small realities and blinds us to that reality which is gloriously abundant.

Wisdom vs. Slavery

I had not thought of making wisdom and slavery opposites before reading Genesis 2 today, but these 2 ideas are opposites.  The Lord speaks to the Man and gives him the command to eat freely of everything in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Obviously, for this command to make sense, the Man already had some head knowledge of both good and evil.  What he did not have is experiential knowledge of evil.

If Man had stayed forever away from the experiential knowledge of evil, he would have grown in wisdom and knowledge before the Lord and enjoyed great harmony in the Garden.  Wisdom means applying godly knowledge to life, thereby learning more about God and life.

Yet, we know that the Man did not follow the course of growing in wisdom; instead, he took the forbidden fruit and fell into the experiential knowledge of good and evil.  This fall was not innocent; it brought guilt and judgment.  Indeed, it brought death.  So, the picture is clear from Genesis 2 that the way of obedience is the way of wisdom, but the way of disobedience is the way of being trapped into death.  The freedom of life and the slavery of death are always on the line in the matter of obedience.

Eye Opening

This article from Heartbeat International is eye opening.  Crisis pregnancy centers are located in areas where the least abortions are occurring.  In the areas where the most abortions are occurring, there are few (if any) pregnancy centers.  Read the article…

Haiti Orphans

I have linked here a news article concerning the fate of an untold number of orphans in Haiti.  I am not sure what the final result will be, but the story speaks of children being brought in to the hospitals with no names, no record of families, and no place else to go.  I would be more than glad to take a child.  If anyone finds out how to arrange such an adoption, speak up.