"Give and it will be Given to You"

In this uncertain financial time period we have some really great promises from our never-failing God to literally bank on.  Instead of hording your money and sitting in a dark corner until the economy gets better, Jesus says, "Give".  He says, "Don't worry about tomorrow" and that if He cares for the lilies of the field and for the little sparrows that are worth a few cents, surely He will care for you!  He even knows the number of hairs on your head - and cares for each one!  How will you then worry, you of little faith!  ((My paraphrase:  "Stand up boldly Christians for Christ's Name!"))

During tough financial times, we as Christians have huge opportunities to show the truth of Christ's words.  By continuing to give boldly and spend with confidence to further Christ's kingdom, we can be sure that our storehouse will not run dry.  (This is also, by the way, one of the keys to pulling the economy back into shape!)  In Malachi, God urges His people - "Test me in this!"  Test God that he always provides for the work that He calls us to.  He is the God who owns a thousand cows on a thousand hills and holds all the stars that he spoke into existence in the palm of His hand.  Surely, through difficult times we are given opportunities to show that we believe such things.

"Give and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom."  - Luke 6:38

Free John MacArthur!

There's some great news coming from the ministry of Grace to You, the ministry of John MacArthur.  Starting on Nov. 5, all of his sermons (over 3,500!) will be available for free download.

Check out more here.

I have personally been very blessed by John MacArthur's ministry and find him to be one of the most solid Biblical preachers in the world today.   I encourage you to check it out on Nov. 5, if the bandwidth holds up!

(HT: JT)

In Science does Majority Rule?

Five-hundred years ago more than 95% of scientists would have told you that the sun revolves around the earth.  For thousands of years man engineered flight was considered by more than 95% of scientists to be impossible (even in the year that the Wright brothers first flew) and a foolish endeavor to pursue.
Today about 95% of scientists tell us that macro-evolution is a fact.  What should we believe?

From AIG:
"...one day a friend told me that something like 95 percent of scientists believe evolution is true. That made me completely rethink things. I’m a layman when it comes to this stuff. All I know is what I learnt in school or read on this website. So my opinion on the topic of evolution is only based on what smarter people than me have said. And basically, it’s your views vs. everyone else’s. Who am I to say that all those incredibly smart people are wrong?"

Read the fine response here.

Ballot Box Blues
Justin Taylor on why this election year is so difficult for Christians.

It Sounds Pretty Far-Fetched That Obama Would Vote To Allow Born Alive Infants To Die, Right?

It Sounds Pretty Far-Fetched That Obama Would Vote To Allow Born Alive Infants To Die, Right?

Justin Taylor:

Robert George and Yuval Levin, in a new article on Obama and Infanticide, argue that Obama's response during the third debate regarding the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection Act "followed the pattern of his approach to this subject throughout the campaign: deny the facts and confuse the issue."

Read the whole thing. Here's the conclusion:

Some of Senator Obama's supporters are now making one last, rather desperate-sounding attempt to defend his votes against protecting infants born alive after unsuccessful abortions. Their argument goes this way: Permitting children who survive attempted abortions to be abandoned is so heinous, so barbaric, that for someone to accuse Senator Obama, a decent man who is himself the father of two daughters, of supporting what amounts to legalized infanticide is too outrageous to merit an answer. There is a problem, though. In light of the documentary evidence that is now before the public, it is clear that the accusation against Senator Obama, however shocking, has the very considerable merit of being true.

When I was watching the debate (transcript) and heard Obama say this, "If it sounds incredible that I would vote to withhold life saving treatment from an infant, that's because it's not true", I was immediately thinking, "Man, that is a good strategy on his part. It does sound pretty far fetched that he would do such a thing. This dude is seriously crafty."

Before you vote, please do the research. Don't be a lazy voter.

This post will help that process.
This one will too. 
(HT: Z)

I Love David Crowder
... because he makes me see and love Jesus more.

Passion Tokyo 2008

Four friends and I went up to Tokyo on Sunday and Monday for Passion Tokyo 2008.   We were greatly blessed by it!  First, we got second row seats, because we were there early.  All of my favorite worship bands were there - and not just there - they all tried to use some Japanese both in their songs and in their intros!  All of the songs were translated on the screen and Louie Giglio had a translator (a man that I have met personally and talked with) that did a great job.  Japanese aside, the message was consistent through the whole night and was extremely powerful and culturally relevent, both for Christians and non-Christians alike.  The two non-Christians that were in our group both said that they enjoyed their time a lot.  One of them said that he had never heard Christianity presented in that way.  He said that he was interested in reading 1 Corinthians for himself (the text that Louie used in his message).  Praise God for what He is doing in Japan and for the ministry of Passion!  (Check out more at www.268blog.com)

Noah and my 27 year-old teddy

Remembering Wilberforce

I am currently teaching about the life of Wilberforce to my social studies students.  Enjoy this video and thank God for the freedom His grace brings.

Dr. Johnathan Wells at the Kansas Evolution Hearings:

Wells is not a Christian, but as a brilliant scientist he brings out a great point that Christians (and non-Christians) would do well to consider:

"Darwinian evolutionists have consistently argued against Design. Darwin himself did. Hundreds of pages in The Origin of Species included the argument against design. The argument was that the evidence will show that what looks like it's designed can actually be explained by natural processes.
Now, if evidence can show that something is not designed, then in principle evidence can show something is designed. You can't have it both ways. You can't say suddenly-- well, you can't argue for design because all of a sudden that involves something supernatural. Darwin was excluding the supernatural and claiming that the evidence justified it.
I would say if you're going to resort to evidence on one side, you can resort to it on the other. And for me that's all Intelligent Design does, says the evidence we see points to design. Where we go beyond that is a theological question. I'm also a theologian so I know those questions, but that's not science."