Music Video of the Week

Shawn McDonald - "All I Need"

Is Google Changing Our Brains?

Google can be an amazing thing. Information is literally at our fingertips now. It takes almost no time to find what you need...just a few clicks.

Justin Taylor has a interesting post about the dangers of this phenomenon, though. Quoting Andrew Sullivan:

I spend most of my day blogging – at a current rate of about 300 posts a week. I’m certainly not more stupid than I used to be; and I’m much, much better and more instantly informed.

However, the way in which I now think and write has subtly – or not so subtly – altered. I process information far more rapidly and seem able to absorb multiple sources of information simultaneously in ways that would have shocked my teenage self.

In researching a topic, or just browsing through the blogosphere, the mind leaps and jumps and vaults from one source to another. The mental multitasking – a factoid here, a YouTube there, a link over there, an e-mail, an instant message, a new PDF – is both mind-boggling when you look at it from a distance and yet perfectly natural when you’re in mid-blog.

When it comes to sitting down and actually reading a multiple-page print-out, or even, God help us, a book, however, my mind seizes for a moment. After a paragraph, I’m ready for a new link. But the prose in front of my nose stretches on.

I get antsy. I skim the footnotes for the quick info high that I’m used to. No good. I scan the acknowledgments, hoping for a name I recognise. I start again.

A few paragraphs later, I reach for the laptop. It’s not that I cannot find the time for real reading, for a leisurely absorption of argument or narrative. It’s more that my mind has been conditioned to resist it...

...We need to be both pond-skaters and scuba divers. We need to master the ability to access facts while reserving time and space to do something meaningful with them.

Good things to remember for myself when posting on here.

Driscoll's "Books You'll Actually Read"

A quick video about one of Mark Driscoll's new books in the "Books You'll Actually Read" series. This one's on the New Testament. Check out the website for one's on the Old Testament, God, and Church Leadership.

Pro-Lifers for Obama?

This from the National Right to Life's "Today's News and Views" section the other day:


If you think you may have read this column before, stay with me anyway. There are certain stubborn realities in this presidential election year that are like stains that have resisted the first half-dozen applications of the strongest stain remover.

Too many people whose opinions I ordinarily respect are so caught up in the "promise" of pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama that they refuse to face facts. Or, more specifically, they soft soap the grim reality that Obama is the most anti-life presidential candidate to run since Roe v. Wade was laid on the shoulders of unborn babies.

Obama is like an instrument that vibrates in sympathetic harmony with the Abortion Establishment. While you know the litany, unfortunately only a tiny percentage of the American public is aware of his abysmal record.

They don't know Obama's support for taxpayer funding of abortion, which increases the number of dead babies. They don't know that he approves of abortionists not notifying parents even when they are performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state.

Nor do they know that Obama supports cloning human embryos, is a co-sponsor of the "Freedom of Choice Act" (Roe on steroids), or that he bitterly denounced the Supreme Court for upholding a law that banned the hideous partial-birth abortion "procedure." This is no small deal. Even some pro-abortion senators drew the line at partial-birth abortion. For example, according to the Congressional Record (Sept. 26, 1996, at S11373), the late New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "I think this is just too close to infanticide. A child has been born and it has exited the uterus, and what on Earth is this procedure?"

Prof. Paul Kengor recently wrote a thoughtful piece about this whole phenomenon. Although he was talking specifically about Roman Catholic apologists for Obama, his analysis applies across the board.

Kengor does a masterful (and emotionally gripping) job of painting a picture of what happened to those few babies who survived an abortion. The neglect of these victims was so revolting that, in spite of the best efforts of the usual congressional suspects, the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act passed in 2002. All BAIPA does is require that these babies receive the same medical attention given a baby spontaneously born prematurely.

"Obama was not a member of the US Senate at the time that the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act passed unanimously through both chambers of Congress," Kengor writes. "But he was a member of the Illinois state legislature, where similar legislation was introduced at the state level." Obama voted against the legislation.

All this and more is outlined by Kengor by way of setting the stage. For all of his egregious pro-abortion positions, Obama is vigorously supported by people who ought to know better--or perhaps do, and pretend otherwise.

Part of the explanation is a variation of the argument that while abortion is (or may be) important, it does not match, let alone override, a panoply of other issues taken as a whole. If this is their position, so be it.

But the website of these same Catholics begins, Kengor explains, with a long quote "from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which states, 'The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of the moral vision for society. … In our society, human life is under direct attack from abortion and euthanasia.' "

So there must be some heavy-duty rationalizing at work to explain why "they are stumping hard for Obama, who, if elected, has promised to do whatever he can to appoint justices and support legislation guaranteeing decades of protection for Roe v. Wade." (I'm not dealing with those who simply want a Democrat elected President.)

Kengor offers a very illuminating example of one man who at least addresses the abortion issue. This guy concedes that he "may disagree" with Obama "on aspects of these important fundamentals," but nonetheless is "convinced, based upon his [Obama's] public pronouncements and his personal writing, that on each of these questions he is not closed to understanding opposing points of views and, as best as is humanly possible, he will respect and accommodate them."

In other words, I like his smile, so what if he is a force behind FOCA, which would undo with the stroke of a pen decades of pro-life achievements? Obama doesn't raise his voice, so what if he would allow abortion survivors to die unattended? He gives me goose pimples, so what if pro-abortion justices such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg--the kind that would allow partial-birth abortions--are Obama's ideal?

Kengor is right that there are psychological mechanisms (and rationalizations) aplenty at work, allowing even some who would proudly call themselves "pro-life" to wiggle out of the obvious contradictions.

Chipper on the Onion

More from Westboro "Baptist"

I posted a while ago on Josh Buice's encounter with some members of Westboro "Baptist." Well, things have gotten very interesting. Josh has actually been in contact with them, and was able to get them to respond to some interview questions. He posted the first part of the interview yesterday.

A nice sample:

8. Do you consider yourself to be a Christian?

RESPONSE: What an impudent question from a clueless source. You brutes have given that concept a bad name. Here it is Josh – we follow the teachings of Christ, almost to the exclusion of the rest of this generation – therefore, we are entitled to be called Christian. My skin crawls listening to this generation blather on . . . “I looooovvvvveeeeee Jeessus” even as she lives in adultery...

9. How did you become a Christian? Please explain the location and the brief context of what was going on during that moment of time (church, home, work, etc.).

RESPONSE: Shut up Josh – are you trying to gag me with a pitch fork? Do you think that I would tell you such information for you brutes to pour over and access? Here is what we have been sent to tell you Josh:

GOD HATES YOU! YOU ARE GOING TO HELL! GOD HATES FAGS! GOD HATES FAG ENABLERS! GOD HATES AMERICA! AMERICA IS DOOMED! THE SIEGE IS COMING (NEW sign – hot off the press – get the mental picture until you can see it before your eyes you lucky duck – you get the first vision of this sign – think COMING with a strike mark through it and on one side of the sign it says just below the stricken COMING it says HERE – get it Josh – the siege is here! Don’t look now, but he siege is here. Then, on the other side of the sign it says – just below the stricken COMING – it says ON YOU. The siege is on you Josh – you just don’t see it yet. Stay tuned!) YOUR PASTOR IS A LYING WHORE. YOUR PASTOR IS LYING! FAG PIMP POPE! PRIESTS RAPE CHILDREN. (apparently we need a new sign after some articles I have recently read – it will look like this SOUTHERN BAPTIST PREACHERS RAPE CHILDREN) And so much more! THANK GOD FOR DEAD CHILDREN! THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS!

Wow. Seriously disturbed. This is not the Gospel of the Bible. This is dishonoring to Christ and not his message to people.

Music Video of the Week

Lifehouse - "Broken"

N.T. Wright on Colbert

I don't agree with N.T. Wright on everything, but his view of heaven is pretty cool...especially when he's trying to explain it to Steven Colbert:

I'll See You in Court, Dad

Al Mohler comments on a ridiculous story out of Canada: a 12-year-old girl took her father to court when he punished her for posting pictures on a dating site by not letting her go on a school camping trip. The court ruled in the girl's favor, saying the punishment was "excessive."

Mohler:

For years, we have been warned that the courts were poised to usurp parental authority. We have seen chilling judicial precedents and the encroaching reach of bureaucrats and government agents. Warnings were offered by prophets like Philip Reiff and Christopher Lasch, who saw the family being stripped of its functions and replaced by an army of eager agents. Parents are supplanted by professionals who are "experts" in raising other people's children.

The Canadian case is among the most chilling yet...

...This father may win his appeal -- we must hope that he does -- but the damage is already done. This 12-year-old girl has defied her father and been rewarded by a secular court. The judge and the court have now become complicit in the girl's disobedience. This father has had his rights as father denied and his authority undermined. We can only imagine the costs of this judicial malpractice in the life of this girl and her family. Beyond this, the precedent is now set for further judicial mischief.

America's parents had better look north and take notice. This judicial atrocity hits very close to home.

Jesus vs. Buddha on Happiness

Great post by Jon Bloom over at Desiring God on the differences between Jesus and Buddha when it comes to pursuing happiness. He concludes:

We are designed to be satisfied with the one eternal, permanent God. Evil is when we believe that God will not satisfy us and therefore pursue happiness in transient things. That’s the essence of sin.

Jesus and the Buddha agree that pursuing happiness in transient things is futile, but they direct us to opposite solutions. The Buddha says satisfaction is treasuring nothing. Jesus says it is treasuring God. In treasuring God we end receiving all things. In treasuring no thing we end up with, well, nothing.

Which, of course, is why we are not Desiring Nothing Ministries.

An Inconvenient Truth for Al

After his documentary came out, it was discovered that Al Gore's home consumed 20 times more energy than the average household. Now, this report:

Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month –1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

In the wake of becoming the most well-known global warming alarmist, Gore won an Oscar, a Grammy and the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, Gore saw his personal wealth increase by an estimated $100 million thanks largely to speaking fees and investments related to global warming hysteria.

“Actions speak louder than words, and Gore’s actions prove that he views climate change not as a serious problem, but as a money-making opportunity,” Johnson said. “Gore is exploiting the public’s concern about the environment to line his pockets and enhance his profile.”

Now that's inconvenient.

Luther on Music

Foreword to Georg Rhau's Collection, "Symphoniae iucundae".

"I, Doctor Martin Luther, wish all lovers of the unshackled art of music grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ!

I truly desire that all Christians would love and regard as worthy the lovely gift of music, which is a precious, worthy, and costly treasure given to mankind by God.

The riches of music are so excellent and so precious that words fail me whenever I attempt to discuss and describe them.... In summa, next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits...

Our dear fathers and prophets did not desire without reason that music be always used in the churches. Hence, we have so many songs and psalms.

This precious gift has been given to man alone that he might thereby remind himself that God has created man for the express purpose of praising and extolling God.

However, when man's natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace.

A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs."

- Martin Luther

Music Video of the Week

Derek Webb - "Wedding Dress"

Happy Father's Day

I love you Dad!

Andy McKee - "For My Father"

2008 Desiring God National Conference

Desiring God's annual National Conference will be September 26-28 in Minneapolis, MN. Speakers include John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Sinclair Ferguson, Bob Kauflin, Daniel Taylor, and Paul Tripp. Looks like another great conference by the guys at Desiring God. You can register and get more information here. Also, check out the promo video below.

Obama Launches "Fight the Smears"

Obama's campaign launched a website today called "Fight the Smears," designed to counter the many rumors flying around about him (specifically the many email rumors). So far, the refutations involve Michelle Obama's use of the word "whitey" in a speech, the fact that Obama is a Muslim (I've heard this one A LOT), that Obama's book contains racially incendiary remarks, and that Obama won't say the pledge of allegiance or put his hand over his heart (they don't mention why there's video of him not placing his hand over his heart during the national anthem, though).

Interesting to see they are actually even acknowledging these rumors and trying to refute them. I guess they've persisted long enough that they didn't think they had a choice.

Witnessing to Westboro "Baptist"

Great story here by Rev. Josh Buice, who during the Southern Baptist Convention decided to witness to a group of Westboro "Baptists." You may have heard of this group, with their "God Hates Fags" signs and their protests of soldiers funerals. It feels ridiculous even typing that...

Anyway, good reminder that we should pray for all people, even whackos who do more to harm the cause of Christ than help it. God can save anyone, which means the mission field is unlimited.

A sample from Josh:

"As I saw the group standing on the opposite corner of the street with their signs informing us that we are all going to Hell, I felt that familiar nudge once again. This time, I submitted to the nudge and headed across the street. Immediately after crossing the busy intersection, I started speaking to this radical group of people. I did not have a formal plan, but I knew that I was being led across the street to these people by the Spirit of God.

As I spoke to the gentleman who was standing on the American Flag while holding two different signs high above his head, I noticed that he had a little boy (most likely his son) who was also standing there beneath this man. The young boy was also holding a sign with a very judgmental message. So, there I was in front of the infamous radical Westboro hate group. The first thing I said was, “I serve a Savior who forgives.” He responded by saying that I serve a false god and that I (along with all of the SBC) am a liar. When I asked him why he accused me of being a liar, he informed me that “You preach a message of love when God really does not love everyone - he hates most people.”

May this serve as a reminder. We may not say things remotely this judgmental and harsh, but we can have almost the same effect when we preach against people's sins instead of preaching the gospel. Our job is delivering the gospel. God is the one who changes lives.

"Joshua Generation" for Obama?

Barack Obama is planning to target young evangelicals and Catholics with a new program called the "Joshua Generation Project."

"The “Joshua Generation Project” - a name based on the biblical story of Joshua and his generation, which led the Israelites into the Promised Land – aims to reach out to young people of faith on moral issues such as poverty, Darfur, climate change, and the Iraq war, according to Christian Broadcasting Network’s The Brody File...

There's unprecedented energy and excitement for Obama among young evangelicals and Catholics,” said a source close to the Obama campaign to CBN’s David Brody on Friday. “The Joshua Generation project will tap into that excitement and provide young people of faith opportunities to stand up for their values and move the campaign forward.'"

I wonder how many young Christians will fall for this. Obama is pro-abortion, probably the most defiantly pro-abortion candidate ever. Go ahead, call me a single-issue voter. But there are certain criteria a person must meet to even have me consider voting for them. Supporting murder disqualifies candidates for me. Sorry.

Obama has also shown clearly that his values will not truly resonate with the vast majority of Christians. After all, his church of 20 years was based on a theology that declared if God was not for the cause of blacks and against the white enemy, they would reject God's love and even kill Him. Pretty sure they don't have a proof-text for that specific theology.

What's more likely happening here is that young "evangelicals" think it's really cool right now to say you support helping Darfur and other social causes, despite the fact that most people do nothing more than join a group for it on Facebook. Give Obama credit, though. He's aware of how to get these voters and he will likely convince a large number of them to give him their vote. The man is a great politician.
_______________________________

Update: Cal Thomas has some comments on Obama's outreach to evangelicals and his claim to be a "committed Christian."

A sample:

Obama can call himself anything he likes, but there is a clear requirement for one to qualify as a Christian and Obama doesn’t meet that requirement. One cannot deny central tenets of the Christian faith, including the deity and uniqueness of Christ as the sole mediator between God and Man and be a Christian. Such people do have a label applied to them in Scripture. They are called “false prophets.”

Bob Kauflin on "Spontaneous Songs" and Worship

If you read my blog at all, you've likely seen quite a few posts about the New Attitude Conference my wife and I attended a few weeks ago in Louisville. If you read those, you heard me rave about the worship there. It was God-glorifying music with some of the best lyrics I've ever heard in worship songs. Being a Sovereign Grace Ministries conference, Bob Kauflin was involved in planning the worship for the conference. He was also behind the "un-planned worship" as well.

Twice during the conference, Bob sang a "spontaneous song" that he said was inspired by the Holy Spirit to sing at that time. They were great songs, laden with scripture. Coming from a strict cessationist Church, I found that interesting. While my church is cessationist, I'm not 100% convinced about the current role of supernatural spiritual gifts either way. Bob's method of describing these songs appealed to me. He gave the Lord the credit for the song that came forth from him, but it wasn't in a flamboyant way that tends to happen at the more charismatic churches. It was just the Lord speaking through his gift of songwriting.

Over at his blog, Bob posted about his spontaneous songs today.

A sample:

"Seems to me that Christians often exaggerate or underestimate the verbal supernatural gifts. On the one hand, people can heighten their significance and/or authority, like the Corinthians did, and think that “worship” doesn’t happen unless we sing improvised songs at some point during the meeting. When it comes to prophetic songs, this perspective can lead to extended times repeating the same phrases over and over, or simply trying to be spiritually “innovative.” Other Christians find it hard to believe that the Spirit can give us impressions that we should communicate with others that could be a means of encouragement to them...

It’s like many of the spiritual gifts. God takes our natural talents (which are gifts in the first place) and empowers them by his Spirit. I’ve been writing songs for over 40 years. During that time you get a sense for what words will rhyme, and it’s not that difficult to improvise lyrics and tunes on the spot. What I can’t explain is the timing of many of these songs, why an idea for a song comes in one meeting and not another, and how people often become more aware of God’s perspective, truth, and presence...

Don’t misunderstand me. You don’t have to sing spontaneous songs to be used by God. God’s Spirit is at work in a variety of ways. He might suddenly bring a thought or Scripture to mind that affects the direction of the meeting. You might be led to pause and lead in prayer for a particular category or need. We want to be listening in the midst of leading, “leaning forward” to hear what the Spirit might be directing us to do as we care for God’s people."

Interesting discussion. I'm anxiously awaiting Bob's book, Worship Matters, to read further on his perspective on worship. It's something I've been wrestling with recently.

What exactly is the Spirit's role in our worship? Are emotions evoked by truth ok? Is it ok to be moved by a melody because it's beauty reflects the beauty of the Creator? Why do most people take an either/or instead of a both/and approach to beautiful worship music and Bible-based, truth-laden lyrics? Important things to figure out, I think. As Bob said at the conference, worshiping the Lord is a large part of what we'll be doing for eternity.

Christianity Today's Endorsement of Sex and the City

Christianity Today recently reviewed the new movie based on the long-running TV show, "Sex and the City." In the review, they essentially endorsed the movie, saying it had "redeeming qualities" and praising it for a "refreshing" acknowledgment of a single woman's sexuality. Seriously...CHRISTianity Today said that Sex and the City was valuable to watch because it depicted the sexuality of young, single, women. Do young, single, Christian women have sexual desires? Of course. But they shouldn't aspire to act them out in the ways depicted by movies like this.

Now I completely understand why this movie would appeal to people. Sex, and the apparently good writing is entertaining, especially for those with a non-Christian worldview. I just found it fascinating that a Christian magazine would endorse a movie that they admit in the review has "a threesome, a naked man in a shower, some steamy makeup sex" and other sex scenes between married people.

Do I think everyone should "boycott" this movie, a term many Christians love to throw around? Not necessarily. Do I think less of Christians for going to the movie? Not really. But is going to see this movie and implanting these images in your mind really avoiding a hint of sexual immorality, as Paul commanded? Just curious.

Check out Ted Slater's letter to Christianity Today about all this here.

iPhone 3G

So Apple revealed the new iPhone today. The new device includes 3G (essentially going from dial-up to broadband speed), new software, a slightly new design, and a lower price. An 8-gig model can be yours for only $199...a 16-gig one for only $299...

So will you buy one?

Confession time...yes, my wife an I both have iPhones. We are Mac people and unable to change...they're just so good...

Oh well, here's a summary of the announcement today:

Music Video of the Week

Jeremy Camp - "Give Me Jesus"

Jay Bruce Almighty

The only reason left for the Reds to have hope this season. (You may need to turn up the volume in the actual player.)

The Audacity of Death: Obama on Abortion

Check out this great story in the Wall Street Journal about Gianna Jessen, a woman who survived her mother's attempt to abort her. If Barack Obama is our next president, we may never have any of these kinds of stories again. After all, "Mr. Obama said in a speech on the Illinois Senate floor that he could not accept that babies wholly emerged from their mother's wombs are "persons," and thus deserving of equal protection under the Constitution's 14th Amendment." Therefore, Gianna should not be alive today, and other babies in this situation won't be with him as president.

A couple quotes from the article:

Mr. Obama has compiled a 100% lifetime "pro-choice" voting record, including votes against any and all restrictions on late-term abortions and parental involvement in teenagers' abortions.

To Mr. Obama, abortion, or "reproductive justice," is "one of the most fundamental rights we possess." And he promises, "the first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act," which would overturn hundreds of federal and state laws limiting abortion, including the federal ban on partial-birth abortion and bans on public funding of abortion.

In "The Audacity of Hope," Mr. Obama denounces abortion absolutism on both ends of the ideological spectrum. That is audacious indeed considering Obama's record, which epitomizes the very radicalism and extremism he denounces.

Also check out this article by Joe Carter on why Obama can't say shibboleth.

Interestingly enough, this article about a baby surviving an abortion (to the ultimate delight of the parents) came out today as well (picture to the left).

Smoltzie's Done

The aching shoulder was just too much to take, even for the ultimate competitor. John Smoltz announced he's having season-ending shoulder surgery, ending his 2008 campaign and possibly his Hall-of-Fame career. It's a sad day for us Braves fans who have appreciated his grit and determination to compete at the highest level for this long regardless of his circumstances. Whether that meant moving to new roles (closer), old roles (back to starter 3 1/2 years later), new arm angles, etc., the man was willing to do whatever he had to to help his team compete.

There's still a chance he could come back next year, but the way he's talking, I doubt it. He wants to be able to lift his arm well enough to play with his kids, play golf, have a life once baseball's done. Can't blame a 41-year-old for that. If he decides he can come back, I will be ecstatic to get to see him a few more times, but, regardless, he's a legend in my book.

Some teammates' reactions:

Jeff Francouer:

"To be honest with you, I'm happy for him in the fact that he can have some closure this season. He wanted to get back worse than anybody, but his arm wouldn't allow him to do it.

People said he'd never be able to start again, he came out and started again. He's pretty much been able to do whatever he wants. And so in here we'll lose a leader and a guy everybody looked up to, but baseball will just lose a guy that really is one of the top three or four guys that when you talk about major league baseball, he's the face of it."

Brian McCann:

"All year long, he goes out there and gives us everything he's got when he's hurting. It just shows you what kind of guy he is. I look up to him. He's a great teammate and a great friend."

Bobby Cox:

"He's been such a special guy in this clubhouse and a special guy on this club and has meant so much to everything that has been accomplished here."

Tom Glavine:

"He has demonstrated time and again the ability to come back from an injury or adjust the way he pitches or adjust his role. He's a great athlete. He's got a great work ethic in terms of what he expects out of himself. It's that desire to keep pushing and keep going that's proven he can come back."

...and Smoltz:

"This spring, where my frustration came in was I was looking forward to this year more than any year I've ever played, with Tommy [Glavine] coming back, with the possibility of this team being as good as I thought it could be. I did what I thought was best - and I almost pulled it off. It almost worked. The irony is the first four games is probably the best I've ever thrown...There's not one bitter, remorseful sad bone in my body."

Click here for a timeline of Smoltzie's career.

Obama's Historic, Unfortunate Candidacy

Denny Burke on why Obama's victory in the Democratic primary is an historic event that is very hard to be happy about. I echo his sentiments that I would really like to be happy about the fact that an African-American is running for the President of the United States. But I just can't be happy that our next president might be Obama.

Burke says:

The irony of Senator Obama is that the injustice that his candidacy overcomes (the slavery and racism that excluded black people from the human community) is exactly what undermines his moral credibility as a candidate (his pro-choice opinion that excludes the unborn from the human community). What is particularly troubling is Obama’s more than casual commitment to this point of view. He is doctrinaire when it comes to defending abortion rights and has said " On this fundamental issue, I will not yield."

Learning about God from Creation

Tim Challies has a great post about what we can learn about God from creation. His observation came from watching the documentary "Planet Earth." This is a great documentary, and Tim's observations are a great reminder of what the beauty of creation should lead us to.

Great stuff.

What's in the Words "To Me"?

Going along somewhat with my reading of Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be), I found this article by John MacArthur that went along with some of the ideas from the book.

I liked this quote:

We don't make the Bible relevant; it is inherently so, simply because it is God's Word. And after all, how can anything God says be irrelevant?

He talks about the need of most people to read scripture looking for what it means "to me," to elevate a subjective reading of God's Word above His objective truth.

I think there are generally 2 things people mean by the words "to me." The first is that the scripture only has subjective meaning for each individual person. I think this is very dangerous because it implies that the writer (and ultimately the Holy Spirit inspiring the writer) had no meaning in mind when the text was written. The second thing I think people mean when they say they want to understand what it means "to me" is they want to understand how they can apply the truth to their lives. This is very commendable and vital to the Christian life. We are, after all, to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers.

I tend to think those in the emergent church, and even in many "traditional" churches today are more open to the idea that scripture can mean something different for everyone. While the applications of truth are infinite, there is an objective truth to the scripture. The writer knew what he meant when he wrote it; until I understand what that meaning is, I cannot apply it to my life.

MacArthur again:

Practical application is vital. I don't want to minimize its importance. But the distinction between doctrinal and practical truth is artificial; doctrine is practical! In fact, nothing is more practical than sound doctrine.