Super-Slow-Mo Footage of Cheetah's Running

Piper: Avoiding 2 Errors in Gender/Sexuality

Craig Ferguson on Why Everything Sucks

A little bleeped out language at the end...



HT: 22 Words

Music Video of the Week: Pentatonix

Pentatonix - "Carol of the Bells"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Andrew Peterson - "Don't You Want to Thank Someone"

Can’t you feel it in your bones
Something isn’t right here
Something that you’ve always known
But you don’t know why

‘Cause every time the sun goes down
We face another night here
Waiting for the world to spin around
Just to survive

But when you see the morning sun
Burning through a silver mist
Don’t you want to thank someone?
Don’t you want to thank someone for this?

Don’t you ever wonder why
In spite of all that’s wrong here
There’s still so much that goes so right
And beauty abounds?

‘Cause sometimes when you walk outside
The air is full of song here
The thunder rolls and the baby sighs
And the rain comes down

And when you see the spring has come
And it warms you like a mother’s kiss
Don’t you want to thank someone?
Don’t you want to thank someone for this?

I used to be a little boy
As golden as a sunrise
Breaking over Illinois
When the corn was tall

Yeah, but every little boy grows up
And he’s haunted by the heart that died
Longing for the world that was
Before the Fall

Oh, but then forgiveness comes
A grace that I cannot resist
And I just want to thank someone
I just want to thank someone for this

Now I can see the world is charged
It’s glimmering with promises
Written in a script of stars
Dripping from prophets’ lips

But still, my thirst is never slaked
I am hounded by a restlessness
Eaten by this endless ache
But still I will give thanks for this

‘Cause I can see it in the seas of wheat
I can feel it when the horses run
It’s howling in the snowy peaks
It’s blazing in the midnight sun

Just behind a veil of wind
A million angels waiting in the wings
A swirling storm of cherubim
Making ready for the Reckoning

Oh, how long, how long?
Oh, sing on, sing on

And when the world is new again
And the children of the King
Are ancient in their youth again
Maybe it’s a better thing

A better thing

To be more than merely innocent
But to be broken then redeemed by love
Maybe this old world is bent

But it’s waking up
And I’m waking up

‘Cause I can hear the voice of one
He’s crying in the wilderness

“Make ready for the Kingdom Come”
Don’t you want to thank someone for this?

2 New Albums You'll Definitely Want to Check Out

Pride and Humility

Mark Driscoll:

The worst decisions in my life, the times my anger has gotten the best of me, and the instances of my greatest regret were all the result of my pride. Pride never helped anything. Pride never improved anything. 

I’m not qualified to write about humility, but you’re not either. Therefore, as the chief hypocrite, I’ll take the liberty. Here are seven things about pride and humility that I’ve learned, mostly the hard way. 

1. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble 

The most haunting verse in Scripture is found in both James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” If we insist on our way, our best, our fame, our glory, our best interest, the living God of the universe will work against us in direct opposition. Our pride puts us in this dreadful position. 

2. Humility means knowing your place 

Some of the earliest instances of the word "humble" refer to the position a person occupies. The Apostle Paul writes, “I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think” (Rom. 12:3). Do you crave glory, recognition, reward, or attention that is beyond your present station? 

3. Everyone is proud, just in different ways 

You’re proud. They’re proud. I’m proud. But we’re all proud in different ways. It’s easy to point out pride in others while remaining oblivious to our own blind spots. Some of us think we deserve more money. Some of us think we deserve more respect. Some of us think we deserve more comfort. Before we judge and condemn other people for their pride, we need to ask, “How am I blind to my own?” 

4. Humility is a direction, not a destination 

None of us can say, “I used to be proud. Glad that’s over!” That would be proud. In his book Humility , C. J. Mahaney describes himself as “a proud man pursuing humility by the grace of God.” The same could be said for all of us. As Christians, we venture in the direction of humility, by the grace of God. The question is not, “Have you arrived?” but rather, “Are you even trying?” 

5. Pride is about my glory, humility is about God’s glory 

Once the question of glory is settled, everything is settled. Resolve to give God the glory, and you’ll know the answer to the vast majority of the decisions in your life. 

If you’re fighting with your spouse, what should you do? Whatever brings God the most glory. 

If you’re disobeying your parents, what should you do? Whatever brings God the most glory. If you’re disagreeing with leadership, how should you conduct yourself? In a manner that brings God the most glory. If you have aspirations, what should you pursue? Whatever brings God the most glory. 

What you do, why you do it, how you do it, when you do it—humility considers every decision by asking, “Who gets the glory?” 

6. Pride bends inward, but humility turns out to God and others 

Martin Luther described sin as the self bending in on the self. Pride makes it all about “me.” That’s why at Mars Hill we love to say, “It’s all about Jesus.” Humility turns our affections and energies toward God’s glory and others’ good. We start to ask how we can help. We start thinking about ways we could serve or bless other people. We start to forget our own needs. Pride leads us to focus on ourselves. Humility leads us back out to God and others. 

7. Pride births death, humility births life 

Augustine, the great church father, likened pride to a mother who is pregnant with all other sins. In pride, Satan rebelled against God because he desired to be God. In pride, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit because they wanted to be like God. In pride, we reject God’s wisdom, will, and Word because we think we know better. All sin comes out of pride—and all virtue, all holiness, and all glory to God are birthed out of humility. Is your heart pregnant with pride, or is it pregnant with humility? 

The bad news: we will lose the battle of pride vs. humility every day. The good news: we have perfect humility in Jesus. Unlike Satan, unlike Adam and Eve, and unlike us, 

"[Jesus] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."Philippians 2:6–11 

Jesus was humble, and God glorifies him as a result. Likewise, if we repent of our pride and pursue humility in Jesus instead, by God’s grace we will be glorified with him as well. We war against our pride not by focusing on our humility—which is just another way of focusing on ourselves)—but rather, the humility of Jesus Christ.

Do You Love Controversy or People?

Jim Hamilton:

There is no conflict between loving truth and loving people. You really can love people as you obeyTitus 1:9, which says an elder should “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict.” You can even love people as you follow Jude’s appeal that you “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). 

A few years ago I would have been suspicious of anyone who mentioned the need to engage in theological controversy in a loving way. I would have done one of those mental clucks of the tongue and inched the person toward the “needs-to-firm-up-conviction” column. 

As time has passed, though, I’ve participated in a few controversies (many connected to the sovereignty of God in salvation or the roles of men and women) and I’ve watched some controversialists take issue with views that I hold. Obviously I haven’t been in all these battles, only a skirmish or two, and sometimes I found myself wondering if those involved loved God, people, and truth, or just loved controversy. 

I don’t muse on that possibility because of a softening of my own convictions, nor because I don’t like to mix it up, because I’m tired of the fight, or because I think my views worsted. The question arises because some of the caricatures have seemed so obvious I wondered whether they were intentional. The controversialists surely should have known they were fighting misrepresentations, and I am certain that they would not want their views treated the way they treat those they attack. 

I found myself thinking things like this: You’re using the name of the view I hold, but you’re not describing anything like my understanding of it. Only an idiot or a monster would hold it the way you describe it. You know you’re attacking a straw man, right? 

This line of though led me to wonder whether the controversialists were concerned for me as a brother in Christ. I began to ask whether they loved me, because if they really loved me, they would want to help me see the benightedness of a position they thought was so awful, they would want to liberate me from the bondage of bad ideas, and their desire to help me in these ways would surely cause them to use a different tone of voice and a better method of argumentation.

Bruce Ware's New Book: The Man Christ Jesus

Really excited to read this new book from Dr. Bruce Ware, The Man Christ Jesus. Dr. Ware's book are amazingly clear and cogent. Love reading him, and this is a really great topic to dig into.

Here's a video he did with Dane Orlund at Crossway:

Dr. Bruce Ware introduces his forthcoming book, "The Man Christ Jesus" from Crossway on Vimeo.

Timestamps:

00:30: What drove you (Bruce Ware) to write this book?

01:50: You start the book with a discussion of Philippians 2. Why did you choose to reference Philippians?  Help us especially understand what it means when Paul says that Jesus “emptied himself” and became a servant.

03:57: When I (Dane Ortlund) think about the supernatural things Jesus did, my default mode is to think that Jesus is “falling back on his deity.” Help us understand the way you deconstruct and provide a corrective to that logic.

06:23: You have a chapter in the book that discusses Christ’s impeccability. What does it mean that Jesus was impeccable and how does that connect to his humanity? What does that mean for believers today?

09:25: Why did Jesus have to come as a man and not a woman?

11:43: What would you say to a woman who says to you, “Ok Dr. Ware, Jesus came as a male. Is it not true then that Jesus doesn’t really understand me as a woman?”

14:00: Why did Jesus have to come and be a man to save us? I can understand why only God could save me, but why did the second person of the trinity also need to become fully human and, it seems, do what Psalm 49 says can’t be done?

18:13: Is Jesus still a man today?

20:08: Why is knowing that Jesus’s incarnation is not a “parenthesis” cause for worship?

Music Video of the Week: Gaslight Anthem

Gaslight Anthem - "Here Comes My Man"

Let's Honor the President

Russell Moore:

The American people have decided that Barack Obama should have a second term. And, behind them, in the mystery of providence, God has decided that Barack Obama would be re-elected. So how should Christians respond to our once and future President? 

Many of us have some disagreements with the President. As a conservative Christian, I believe unborn children have certain inalienable rights, including the right to life, and I wish President Obama would work to protect them. I believe freedom of conscience is the preeminent right in a civil society, and the Administration’s incursions on religious liberty are troubling. I don’t plan to back down one bit on these matters, even as our forefathers Isaac Backus and John Leland relentlessly stood up to the founding generation of leaders on behalf of religious freedom and human dignity. 

We are going to disagree with the President on some (important) things; there will be other areas where we can work with the President. But whether in agreement or disagreement, we can honor. Honor doesn’t mean blanket endorsement. 

I am always amazed by those Christians who will dispute the command to honor, arguing that “kings” in our system are the people, and therefore we’re called to honor the Constitution but not elected officials. But the Scripture doesn’t command honor simply for the ultimate authority (which is, of course, ultimately God, in any case). Humanly speaking, the ultimate political authority in the New Testament context was the Emperor. 

And yet, the Apostle Peter specifically calls the people of Christ not only to show submission to the emperor “as supreme” but also to “governors” (1 Pet. 2:13-14). The Apostle Paul calls on the churches to pray and to show thanksgiving for “kings” (plural) and for “all who are in high positions” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). 

Paul imitated this when he showed due respect to the governor Felix, referring to him with the honorific title “his Excellency, the governor” (Acts 23:26) and “most excellent Felix” (Acts 24:2), even as he appealed his way up through the political process of the Roman Empire of his time. Paul showed thanksgiving for Felix, despite his part in a system with which Paul disagreed at some important points, for his “reforms” for the common good (24:3). 

Behind that is a more general command to “honor everyone” (1 Pet. 2:17), to pray for “all people” (1 Tim. 2:1). We are to not only pay our taxes but give “respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Rom. 13:7). 

Christians, above all people, should pray for and show respect for our President and all of our elected officials. After all, unlike those who see politics as ultimate, we recognize that our political structures are important, but temporal, before an inbreaking kingdom of Christ. We don’t then need to be fomented into the kind of faux outrage that passes for much of contemporary political discourse. And, unlike those who see history as impersonal or capricious, we see behind everything a God who is sovereign over his universe. 

So let’s pray for President Obama. Let’s not give ourselves to terms of disrespect, or every crazy conspiracy theory that floats across the Internet. 

That doesn’t mean slavish obedience. In a democratic republic, the President and the Congress govern by the consent of the governed. We appeal to our elected officials, and lobby them for the common good, expressing disagreement when we must. But we do this, as Paul does before Felix and Agrippa, with respect and honor, even as he seeks to persuade them of the need for religious liberty and as he preaches “righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment” (Acts 24:25). 

However we voted in the election, let’s pray for God to bless our President. We can pray for him to be granted wisdom and health. We can pray that God would prosper his good ideas, and change his mind on his bad ideas. Moreover, we can teach our children to respect our President, starting with referring to him as “President Obama” or “Our President,” not as “Obama” or “the guy our parents voted against” or what have you. 

There’s a time to vote. There’s a time to campaign. And there’s a time to petition. But, through it all, let’s be the people who, even as we speak with conviction, are marked by kindness and respect. When we have to differ with President Obama, let’s do that, with backbone. But let’s make sure we do all this with honor, with respect, with prayer, and, most of all, with love. 

Let’s render unto Caesar, as free people with natural rights. Because we know as believers that we will eternally say “Jesus is Lord,” we can as citizens temporally say, “Hail to the chief.”

A Prayer For America on Election Day

Al Mohler:

Americans will soon head for the voting precincts as the 2012 election is at hand. Already, millions of our fellow citizens have voted through early voting options. Millions more are soon to be headed to polling places across the land.  In any event, millions of citizens will participate in the first duty of freedom — the freedom to vote. 

There is so much at stake.  We hear every election cycle that the stakes have never been higher. In one sense, this is usually also true.  There is always the sense that there is more at stake this year than last, and, given the way issues unfold, that perception often seems validated by the times. 

Christians face the responsibility to vote, not only as citizens, but as Christians who seek to honor and follow Christ in all things.  But, beyond the vote, we also bear responsibility to pray for our nation.

First, we should pray that God will bless America with leaders better than we deserve.  Democratic systems inevitably reflect the electorate’s decisions, and these decisions reveal underlying worldviews.  And, truth be told, all we can expect from democracy is the government we deserve.  We must pray for a government and for leaders better than we deserve.  May God grant us mercy as he reigns and rules over all things, including this election.

Second, we should pray that Americans will be motivated to fulfill the responsibilities of citizenship, yet also that we will be stripped of an unhealthy and idolatrous confidence in the power of government to save us.  God has given us the gift of rulers and governments in order to restrain evil, uphold righteousness, and provide for civil order.  No human ruler can save.  No government official or office holder can heal the human heart, solve the sin problem, or accomplish final justice.  These powers belong to God and God alone. 

Third, we must pray that Americans will vote by conscience, not merely on the basis of celebrity or emotion.  Christian citizens must vote to uphold righteousness and contend for righteous and just laws.  But, at the same time, we must repent of moralism and the tacit assumption that better laws would produce better people. 

Fourth, we must pray that Americans will vote to defend the least among us — and especially those who have no vote.  This starts, but does not end, with concern for the unborn and for the recovery of respect for the dignity and sanctity of every single human life at every stage of development, from conception until natural death. 

Fifth, we should pray that God will prick the conscience of the nation on issues of morality, righteousness, and respect for marriage as the central institution of human civilization.  So much ground appears to have been lost on these issues.  We need to pray that much ground can be regained. Marriage itself is on the ballot this year, both in the presidential election and in specific measures in four states. There is much work to be done, and so much is at stake. 

Sixth, we should pray that God will protect these candidates and their families.  They have been through an arduous ordeal and now face the deadline of the vote.  They are physically exhausted and now face the judgment of the people.  They are public figures, but they are also flesh and blood human beings, who are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters.  Their families have withstood much.  We should pray for their marriages and their children.  May God protect them. 

Seventh, we should pray that the election is conducted with honor, civility, respect, and justice.  We must pray that we do not face another round of litigation after an election.  This brings democracy into disrepute.  May there be a clear winner, not a contested result. 

Eighth, we must pray that Americans will be prepared to accept the results of the election with respect and kindness.  This will be no time for rancor, condemnations, and conspiracy theories.  Instead, we must pray that God will settle the hearts of the people.  May Christians be ready to respond with prayer, respect for office, and a gentle spirit.  Others will be watching. 

Ninth, we should pray that this election would lead to even greater opportunities to preach the Gospel, and that the freedom of the church will be respected, honored, and protected. 

Tenth, we must pray for the church, praying that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ would be strengthened in the truth, grounded in the faith, and empowered for witness and ministry.  May the church, the sign of the coming kingdom, be faithful to declare the Gospel — knowing that this is the only message that will save. 

May God grant us mercy and grace as we seek to fulfill our responsibilities as citizens — and our responsibilities as Christians.  This world is not our home, but we do bear responsibilities as followers of Christ as we are living here. 

May God bless America, not because this nation deserves to be blessed, but because He is a God of grace and mercy.  Oh God . . . save us from ourselves.

Music Video of the Week: Mumford and Sons

Mumford and Sons - "Lover of the Light"

Propaganda: Be Present.

Having Some Empathy for Politicians

Kevin DeYoung:

Imagine your life were an open book. 

Every conversation recorded. Every errant word written down. Every gaffe broadcast before all. 

What if everything you ever did was fair game? 

What if every action and every decision were held up to the severest scrutiny? 

What if all your last minute apologies failed to satisfy? 

How would you feel to realize someone knew everything about your past? And someone was chronicling everything about your present? 

How would you like to face a barrage of questions for every inconsistency in your life? 

What a fearful proposition: anything you ever say or ever do can, and often will, be held against you. If an adversary so desired, he could paint an ugly picture of any of us. And without resorting to lies. 

It’s a scary thought to think that your whole life could be an open book. With defenses that do not hold, and sorry’s that do not stick, and excuses which only make things worse. 

That’s politics. 

And that’s the day of judgment without the blood of Christ.