2009-03-03

Challies has a recommendation: "The Torchlighters video series is a series of animated DVD's dedicated to "Highlighting the honor, integrity and life-changing experiences of those well-known and little-known Christian men, women and children who in response to God's call, dedicated their lives to a life of whole-hearted commitment and passionate service to Jesus." This really is a good series of videos and they are well worth including in a personal library or, perhaps even better, in a church library. You can learn more about it by visiting the Torchlighters Web Site.  The Richard Wurmbrand Story

Hays quotes Roman Catholic scholar Fitzmyer, who writes of 1 Cor 3:15 as applied to purgatory, saying it "freely accommodates not only the metaphorical sense of these Pauline verses, but also other biblical passages, 2 Macc 12:39-45; Mt 12:32,36, so that Cevetello rightly recognizes that it is ‘based on tradition, not Sacred Scripture’ and Gnilka has shown that the tradition is neither precise nor constant". Another prooftext bites the dust!

Turk has some recommendations for recording audio. Friendly advice from a podcast listener

Don Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines audiobook is available for free download this month: Free Audio- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Ray Ortlund doesn't like "Reformed culture" because it isn't like Reformed theology, which is all about grace deciding to treat people better than they deserve. That theology of grace must translate into the sociology of grace as we treat one another better than anyone deserves, for the sheer glory of it all. http://christisdeeperstill.blogspot.com/2009/02/theology-culture.html

Hays compares the vision of the giant tree in Daniel 4 to the Olympus Mons on Mars, which is so large that, from the bottom, one cannot see the top, since it is beyond the horizon. Hays asks, what shape would the earth have to be for a ground-based observer to perceive a tree so big that it appeared to fill the horizon? do the sightlines in Dan 4:11 implicitly assume the curvature of the earth? Daniel's cosmic tree

Beckwith argues that seeking to reduce abortions is not the same thing as being pro-life, by pointing to a comparative situation where one might seek to reduce 19th century slavery by opposing the import of slaves, compared to another who seeks to stop slavery by granting full citizenship. Such ‘reduction’ policies still reinforce the position that the unborn are subhuman, whose value depends exclusively on someone else’s wanting them or deciding that they are worthy of being permitted to live. Seeking to Reduce Abortion Is Not Necessarily ProLife

JT points to this: A recent study of 33 countries around the world by Anthony Gill and Erik Lundsgaarde, political scientists at the University of Washington, indicates that there is an inverse relationship between state welfare spending and religiosity. Specifically, they found that countries with larger welfare states had markedly lower levels of religious attendance, had higher rates of citizens indicating no religious affiliation whatsoever, and their people took less comfort in religion in general. In their words, “Countries with higher levels of per capita welfare have a proclivity for less religious participation and tend to have higher percentages of non-religious individuals.” More Government, Less God

White points to a theologically vacuous statement in Ehrman’s new book, Jesus, Interrupted, wonders if it signals the end of his ‘I’m not a theologian, so don’t hold me accountable for theological opinions’ (even while he peddles bad theology), and doesn’t think that anyone is going to point out Ehrman’s dripping bias: “Anyone who is embarrassed by the open profession of the lordship of Christ over the mind will not wish to risk their next invitation to some major conference by pointing out Ehrman's bold anti-Christian zealotry.” I Don't Do Theology, I'm an Historical Scholar!

Bird points to this interesting quote from De Silva: “The Book of Common Prayer discovers the meaning of both baptism and burial in the Paschal mystery, the death and resurrection of Jesus. This mystery is that those who live forever are the ones who give themselves away to others and to God's cause in the world, who die to self by embodying the mind of Christ and following the leading of the Spirit to complete Christ's work in the world. The question we face between baptism and our own Easter is this: will we live for this mortal life, witnessing to the triumph of Christ's resurrection, the triumph of God over death, proclaiming by our self-giving actoins and courageous witness, 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' (1 Cor. 15.55).!” David deSilva on the Sacramental Life

The ESV Study Bible is online for the month of March. Check it out for those considering purchasing it. ESV Study Bible Online- Free for the Month of March

Challies has a great post. He seeks to teach his son to “use his strength, his ability to serve others and especially to serve those who are weaker or less able than he is… What becomes of a mom when she has children who are bigger than she is, stronger than she is, and yet with so little maturity, so little restraint? What happens when there is no one to mentor the boy, to teach him that his strength must be used to serve others? This is a lesson a father needs to pass to his son. It's a lesson that no one has taught to so many of the boys who live around me. A few weeks ago I saw a mother struggling with a load of groceries while her boys pushed past one another and past her to get into the house. I stopped them and told them to get back to the car to help their mother. They looked at me blankly and walked into their house, mumbling an excuse. Mom struggled down the walkway she had shoveled with the groceries she was forced to carry. Dad is long gone. There is no one to give these boys the good, swift kick to the posterior that would get them acting like men.” Mom Shovels the Drive

“An Ontario human rights case involving a pre-op transgender man seeking access to a women-only gym is just one more listing in the catalogue of human-rights commission absurdities accumulated over the last 40 years. It stands with another piece of present lunacy in which a bar owner, also in Ontario, is caught between conflicting jurisprudence: the Ontario Human Rights Commission says he must allow the smoking of medical marijuana outside his premises, but Liquor Control Board of Ontario regulations are clear he will lose his liquor-licence if he does. However, one ignores such cases at one's peril. They illustrate a grim and damaging social pathology now at work in Canada. In the stampede to a new definition of rights, the old idea of getting along as society's cement has been abandoned --as have old concepts of what's even appropriate.” http://www.calgaryherald.com/Health/that+girls+room/1348086/story.html

Tom Ascol, who is friends with Voddie Bauckham, author of Family Driven Faith, has been help by and recommends his new book, What He Must Be, if He Wants to Marry My Daughter. “Voddie's overall concern is to help parents--especially fathers--shepherd their daughters through the process of arranging a marriage to the "right" man. This is not the same as an "arranged marriage" in the sense that the parents simply do it. Rather, it involves teaching and preparing daughters to enter into marriage as spiritually, emotionally and physically intact as possible.”  Voddie Baucham, What He Must Be

Turretinfan points to Josh Walker’s blog, where he has several worthwhile posts on limited atonement. [Incidentally, I have met Josh Walker and his wife, as we shared dinner together several times, and we had some great conversation.] Fellow Limited Atonement Advocate

DG has some awesome Easter specials, including 108 copies of 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die for $1 each plus shipping. http://www.desiringgod.org/Store/OutreachSpecials/2009Easter/

Phil Johnson continues to point out that the church has altered its message in trying to paint itself like a cheap prostitute, and in seeking to adopt the Gomorrahan lifestyle and value-system in order to win the wayward citizens of Gomorrah. Yet they insist more of the same is required. “Even the Times can see that evangelicals' 50-year-old obsession with methodology over theology has radically altered the content of our preaching. Why does that point seem so difficult for hard-core contextualizers and pathologically "relevant" church leaders to grasp?” The ‘experts’ insist there is no conflict whatsoever between the free use of such timely methods and our faithfulness to a timeless message. The medium is not the message, they constantly assure themselves, and those who follow them mindlessly recite the mantras of relevance and contextualization, slouching along with "the culture" toward the brink of the abyss. A Follow-Up to Friday's Post

Spurgeon has some excellent words for those who deny hell. “Every sinner who has really come to Christ has been made to feel that however angry God may he with sin, He is not one whit too angry... This is not the emotion of a mind rendered morbid by sickness, but these are the genuine workings of God the Holy Ghost in the soul, bringing the man to stand guilty before the Lord, with his mouth closed, not able to say a word against the sentence of divine justice.”  A Word (or Two) for Those Who Scoff at the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment

"White House officials said that President Barack Obama would sign a $410 billion spending bill that includes thousands of pet projects, known as earmarks, despite campaign promises to put an end to the practice." http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/02/america/earmarks.php

Canadian scientists have made a massive breakthrough in skin-cell derived stem cell research, which doesn't rely on viruses (former attempts did, and this has potential ramifications). The article points out that this may render the ethical questions moot. http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1342585

A study has shown that TV confers no benefit whatsoever to infants. They are neither worse or better off for it, according to the study. However, the bulk of other research indicates that TV is, if anything, harmful. "TV exposure in infants has been associated with increased risk of obesity, attention problems, and decreased sleep quality," said study author Dr. Michael Rich, a pediatrician. "Parents need to understand that infants and toddlers do not learn or benefit in any way from viewing TV at an early age." http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/03/02/babies-tv.html?ref=rss

"For those who have endured this winter's frigid temperatures and today's heavy snowstorm in the Northeast, the concept of global warming may seem, well, almost wishful. But climate is known to be variable -- a cold winter, or a few strung together doesn't mean the planet is cooling. Still, according to a new study, global warming may have hit a speed bump and could go into hiding for decades. Earth's climate continues to confound scientists. Following a 30-year trend of warming, global temperatures have flatlined since 2001 despite rising greenhouse gas concentrations, and a heat surplus that should have cranked up the planetary thermostat." http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/02/global-warming-pause.html