Devotional Christian

The website Devotional Christian is being relaunched. It is meant to be a one-stop shop for daily devotional reading and resources.

Free Calfskin ESV Study Bible

David Porter is offering a free Calfskin ESV Study Bible. Check it out.

Food for Thought: Imago Dei

Living among Image bearers:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.” ~ C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory

Does this change the way we view our unbelieving mechanic?

Google, God & Tebow

Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, the son of missionaries, recently used his platform as Heisman trophy and BCS National Championship winning quarterback for Gospel witness.

During last weeds BCS Championship game against the University of Oklahoma he wrote John 3:16 on his eye black.

Result:

According to World Net Daily, John 3:16 became the hottest search on Google that night.

Dungy Done...with Football that is

Tony Dungy, the first African American headcoach to win a superbowl, retired today as coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

He retired at 53 years young, in his prime and at the top of his profession. But Dungy, as a committed Christian, isn't retiring to the golf course or television booth. He's retiring to spend more time with his family and continue his prison ministry. He is the very definition of what a sports role model can and should be.

Pete Prisco, at CBS Sports described Dungy as the anti-Belichick, a coach who's character spoke louder than any ego ever could.

But it was Bob Kravitz of the IndyStar who might have put it best:

You remember the little things, the small gestures of humility and humanity and decency, the essence of Tony Dungy. Sure, there was the winning, lots and lots of winning, and of course there was the Super Bowl. But mixed in with all those big moments, those public moments, there were those small, private moments that spoke most eloquently to the man's stature...

...Simply, his NFL legacy will be that he won football games the right way. He won them while maintaining his humanity. He won them while insisting his players connected with their community.

All the President's Books

Karl Rove has provided us with a list of some of President Bush's reading material from the past several years.

Regardless of your political affiliations, I think we'd all agree it is commendable and necessary that people in positions of great leadership be well read, aware of both the contemporary and historical contexts they lead in.

HT: Justin Taylor

True Student Athletes

A fantastic article by the Star Tribune, "Division III: Playing for the love of sports, not money" details the joys and hardships of Division III athletics, the last vestige of the pure "student athlete" and amateur sports.

Food 4 Thought - Church in Power or in Peril

New blog idea:

Periodically I'm going to post quotes that I've found particularly thought provoking. I'd love to hear your comments or responses to them.

Our first quote came from Church History class here at the Pastor's College.

“The Church persecuted has always been the Church pure, and therefore the Church powerful. The Church patronized has always been the Church in peril, and very often the Church paralyzed.“
G. Campbell Morgan, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 465.

Top Google Searches - 2008

Interesting list from Google Zeitgeist about the top searches in 2008:

Fastest Rising (U.S.)

1. obama
2. facebook
3. att
4. iphone
5. youtube
6. fox news
7. palin
8. beijing 2008
9. david cook
10. surf the channel

    Fastest Rising (Global)

    1. sarah palin
    2. beijing 2008
    3. facebook login
    4. tuenti
    5. heath ledger
    6. obama
    7. nasza klasa
    8. wer kennt wen
    9. euro 2008
    10. jonas brothers

Christmas Gift Ideas

Full Disclosure: This post is a totally selfish plug for Christmas gifts...but then again, you have not because you ask not!!

Just a reminder about my favorite gift: Books

So a quick reminder about my wish lists (always displayed on the right of the blog) at Amazon.

Theology & Non-Fiction

Fiction & Entertainment

Merry Christmas

Charlie, Check the Ego...

An interesting article at ESPN.com by Gene Wojciechowski.

His advice to Charlie Weis, now that he didn't get the axe for a lackluster first 4 years at Notre Dame: "Learn Humility"

One caveat, I'm not sure Gene's tone is exactly what we'd call humility in action.

Obama & Isaiah

In a recently posted interview Obama gave to Chicago Sun Times columnist Cathleen Falsani in 2004 about his faith he made the following comment:

• FALSANI:
• Do you believe in sin?
• OBAMA:
  Yes.
• FALSANI:
  What is sin?
• OBAMA:
  Being out of alignment with my values.
• FALSANI:
  What happens if you have sin in your life?
• OBAMA:
  I think it's the same thing as the question about heaven. In the same way that if I'm true to myself and my faith that is its own reward, when I'm not true to it, it's its own punishment.

I can't help but think of this subjective definition of sin in light of Isaiah's experience of the objective reality of his sin the presence of God's absolute holiness in Isaiah 6.1-7. Not only did Isaiah recognize that his sin was against God, but God symbolically atones for that sin, highlighting our need for salvation outside of ourselves.

HT: Justin Taylor

Friday Photos

Some of my favorite pics of Case!

Happy Halloween!!

Smile for the Camera...

Jesus is My Friend

Hilarious video, seriously incomplete theology.

But hey, their suits have to count for something right??



HT: Eric Patenaude

The Politics of Kindness

I was reminded today that how we speak can often drown out the truth of our message.

"The temper and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of a society than any particular policy."
~ Os Guinness and John Seel, ed., No God But God: Breaking the Idols of Our Age

“He who has the greatest truth has the greatest love which is the greatest proof.”
~ Lem Tucker

Bar Stool Economics

Below is an interesting email I got from a friend:

"Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20', declared the sixth man.

He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right', exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible."

...Some interesting food for thought

Football, Family and the Glory of God

The story of Tony Dungy--head coach of the Indianapolis Colts--and his strong Christian faith is well known. Less familiar is the strong faith of University of Georgia coach Mark Richt. The video below highlights the faith of Mark and the Richt family in action, adopting two children from Ukraine.

The video is a beautiful example of the obedience of faith, of a family being compelled by the gospel and word of God to take steps of faith and self-sacrifice.

The unique thing about the video is that it aired on ESPN. It is not often that explicit proclamations of Christian faith make their way onto secular programs. It is also rare that high profile athletic figures possess and express a vibrant faith in Christ.

The video is touching and challenging, but it also served as helpful reminder that we should pray for men like Tony Dungy and Mark Richt. Pray that God would sustain them, strengthen them & provide opportunities for them to use their platform to highlight the beauty of the gospel. And finally, pray that they would use their vocation of coaching to be a means of mentoring and discipling athletes into a relationship with the Savior.



HT: Justin Taylor

Worship Songs & Salvation

Abraham Piper has an interesting list of things he's glad he's saved from, but don't usually make it into worship songs:

1. STDs
2. Philosophy
3. Freeloading
4. Incarceration
5. Vagabondage
6. Whiskey binges
7. Illegitimate children
8. Pack-a-day smoking
9. Successful rockstardom
10. Getting run over by a train

Does this mean, "Grandma got ran over by a reindeer" is a song about her lack of salvation?

HT: Abraham Piper

Qualities of Character & Pastoral Training

In a few short weeks I'll be heading off to the Pastor's College of Sovereign Grace Ministries. Some people have found it strange that I'd go out for more training after having just graduated from Bethel Seminary. Explaining the reasons for the decision are numerous, suffice to say my wife, pastors and I think it is God's will.

One major reason for attending the Pastor's College is to undergo an evaluation of my character & enter into a time of character development. To that end, Dr. John Frame wrote an interesting article called Proposal for a New Seminary that argues about the importance of this vital aspect of pastoral training. Below is also a video where Dr. Frame is interviewed about the subject. The pertinent section is between 03:32-08:20. Enjoy


Full Dr. John Frame Interview from GoingtoSeminary.com on Vimeo.

HT: Justin Taylor

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The Amazing Benny Hinn...Sort of

Hayibo - a satirical newspaper - has a pretty funny story about Benny Hinn actually performing a miracle. Who'd a thunk it!

HT: Challies