How one blogger started a fight at her sister’s church …
April 3, 2009
It’s Not About You
April 1, 2009
By Jeremy Pierce
I had a friend who used to conclude from his conviction of God’s sovereignty and the fact that a young woman he was attracted to happened to cross his path that day that God was sending him a message about his future with that young woman. It was hard to convince him that just because it was part of God’s plan that he run across her path that doesn’t mean it was for the reason he might think God had them cross paths. It could be because his running into her reminded her of something she needed to be reminded of that day. It could have been because of something unrelated to the two of them, though, for instance maybe because God wanted them each to be at separate locations shortly after that, and the best way to achieve that at the precise times he wanted them to arrive was for them to walk right by each other. It could have even been so that he could have this conversation with me and be reminded that it’s not always about him and what he wants.
I Kings 20 is an interesting case study in a chapter we don’t look at all that often. Ahab, the King of Israel, engages in continual conflict with Ben-Hadad, King of Syria. It goes on for a while until Ben-Hadad decides he can get the better of Ahab’s forces by fighting in the valleys, claiming that the gods of Israel are gods of the hills, and the gods of Syria are gods of the valleys …
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Ursinus Reads USA Today
March 10, 2009
By Kevin DeYoung
I just got back from a mini-mini-vacation with my family. Since I had the weekend off, we loaded up the car early Sunday morning and drove to College Church in Wheaton (four hours away) in time for their 11:00 AM service (and a torrential hail storm). We visited friends in the afternoon and spent the night at a hotel in luxurious Carol Stream (in the same hotel where J.I. Packer once lodged I’m told-oooh!).
Around about four in the morning (which was really like 3:00 AM before the time change, but since we were on Central time I guess it felt like 4:00 AM to us, so never mind), our three year old fell out of bed, which prompted our one year old to wake up and cry like she was being dropped off at the nursery.
So my wife took a turn. Then around about 5:00 AM I took a turn. While I was hunkering down in the bathroom trying not to disturb the rest of the fam, with my precious little girl munching on Cracklin Oat Bran before the crack of dawn, I started meandering through my complimentary copy of USA Today (yes, it comes to your door that early). The news for Monday morning was grim. Lead story: Americans are becoming less religious. Bottom of page 1: pastor shot during church service. Elsewhere: Obama to reverse ban on federal funding for stem cell research. LAter: stocks may take more than 25 years to recover their losses, once they bottom out that is. For some reason the full page spread on Dancing With The Stars just pushed me over the edge. How can so much be going wrong in the world? …
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Does God repent (Jonah 3:10) or doesn’t he (Numbers 23:19)?
March 5, 2009
What is God’s will for your life? Just Do Something, says Kevin DeYoung in new book
February 21, 2009
DeYoung shares the premise of his forthcoming book
‘Spike Lee: Hand of God Caused Economic Crisis to Get Obama Elected’
January 20, 2009
Jeff Poor, Business and Media Institute (HT: Kris Rasmussen)
Review of Steve Farrar’s God Built
December 22, 2008
by John Starke, at the Gender Blog:
“Steve Farrar aims to beef up his reader’s theology. Farrar assumes his readers desire to become a stronger Christian man, and his advice to accomplish that is to learn what God’s providence is and how to trust in it. The titles of each of his chapter begin “He is in Control Over….” losses, events, broken hopes, etc. To become a stronger, godly man is to know and trust in the sovereign providence of God. Amen.”
Audio: “Balanced, Biblical Answers to the Calvinism Debate”
December 3, 2008
A discussion (mp3) recorded at Colonial Baptist Church of Virginia Beach.
(HT: Adam Blumer, SharperIron)
Audio: “Was it God’s will for Obama to win the election?”
November 11, 2008
A message by Michael Patton:
Part 1
Part 2
Get Rush’s Permanent Waves for $.99
October 17, 2008
… at Amazon (HT: Vitamin Z), and ponder the mystery of “Freewill”, a song on the album whose lyrics make excellent fodder for theological conversation:
There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance take,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.
A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
“The stars aren’t aligned,
Or the gods are malign…”
Blame is better to give than receive.
[Chorus]
There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them; they weren’t born in Lotusland.
All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can’t pray for a place
In heaven’s unearthly estate.
[Chorus]
Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that’s far too fleet.
Chorus:
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that’s clear
I will choose freewill.
