This is really good: 4 bad reasons for choosing a church.
10 Historical Myths About World Christianity
This is scary: Canadian bill would legalize euthanasia for people with disabilities.
[VIDEO] A teacher asks students to write letter to themselves 20 years in the future, and then he delivers the letters to them 20 years later—
Some good reading and watching from today…
“I set you down as nearer akin to a devil than to a saint, if you can go your way and look into the face of your friend or child, and know him to be on the downward road, and yet never pray for him nor use any means for his conversion.” —Charles Spurgeon
Truth: 5 reasons why church is good for your marriage.
“Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters
When doctors given expectant parents about a health issue for their baby, that information may be misleading.
…but there is no mistaking this abortionist’s vile confession: “we let babies born alive ‘expire.’”
“A person morally incapable of doing evil would be, by the same token, morally incapable of doing good. A free human will is necessary to the concept of morality.” —A.W. Tozer
Yet again climatologists’ “models” of so-called global warming are destroyed.
I love Pastor Chilly’s list: 66 Expressions Of Love.
[VIDEO] John Piper on what it means to be Gospel-centered…
Some good reading & watching from today…
“[God] will be infinitely merciful to our repeated failures; I know no promise that He will accept a deliberate compromise. For He has, in the last resort, nothing to give us but Himself; and He can give that only in so far as our self-affirming will retires and makes room for Him in our souls.” —C.S. Lewis
“To live well is the way to die well. Death is not our first foe but the last; let us then fight our adversaries in order, and overcome them each in its turn, trusting that He Who has been with us even until now will be with us until the end.” —Charles Spurgeon
“It is sin in the heart that makes one say, ‘This is far too hard for me!’ The yielded heart, on the other hand, becomes free, and obedience is no longer a burden. For the surrendered heart, it is all joy.” —David Wilkerson
“Membership in your local church is one of the most important things about you.” Read more from Jonathan Parnell on the local church.
Warning: Essure birth control is deadly for women!
Amazing new insights into how God designed plants to manage their hours of sunlight in the photosynthesis process.
Rick Warren on homosexual “marriage”: The church must not cave-in.
[VIDEO] John Maxwell on the importance of making good decisions…
“Some people don’t lead their lives, they accept their lives.” —John Kotter
Some good reading from today…
“Remember that sin must be punished. Any theology which offers the pardon of sin without a punishment, ignores part of the character of God. God is love, but God is also just, as severely just as if He had no love, and yet as intensely loving as if He had no justice. To gain a just view of the character of God you must perceive all His attributes as infinitely developed; justice must have its infinity acknowledged as much as mercy. … Sin must be punished, or God must cease to be. The testimony of the gospel is not that the punishment has been mitigated or foregone, or that justice has had a sop given it to close its mouth. The consolation is far more sure and effectual. Christ has for His people borne all the punishment which they deserved; and now every soul for whom Christ died may read with exultation, ‘The punishment of her iniquity is accomplished’ [Lamentations 4:22].” —Charles Spurgeon
Very interesting reading: Has the war on poverty hurt American marriage rates? Check out this data.
“I think it wise, if possible, to move one’s main prayers from the last-thing-at-night position to some earlier time: give them a better chance to infiltrate one’s other thoughts.” —C.S. Lewis
“This Spirit-filled, last-days Church will not hide, but will be on the front lines, fighting a good fight and bringing in a harvest of souls.” Read more from David Wilkerson in his post On The Front Lines.
Some powerful quotes from Martin Luther on prayer—
“Behold, Lord, and empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love may go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust You altogether. O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in You.”
“Almighty God, grant us grace to hear Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Bread, preached throughout the world and truly to understand Him. May all evil, heretical and human doctrines be cut off, while Your Word as the Living Bread be distributed.”
“Lord God, You have placed me in Your church. You know how unsuitable I am. Were not for Your guidance I would long since have brought everything to destruction. I wish to give my heart and mouth to Your service. I desire to teach your people, and long to be taught Your work. Use me as Your work man, dear Lord. Do not for sake me; for if I am alone I show bring all to naught.”
“I have to hurry all day to get time to pray.”
In His Steps by Rev. Charles Sheldon is a timeless classic that every Christian should read (you can check out my book review by clicking here). This quote is a part of the final message that one of the main characters, Pastor Henry Maxwell, delivers at a prominent church in Chicago.
What would happen if in this city every church member should begin to do as Jesus would do? It staggers our minds to imagine the results! We all know that certain things would be impossible that are now practiced by church members. What would Jesus do in the matter of wealth? How would He spend it? How would Jesus be governed in the making of money? Would He take rentals from saloons? From tenement property?
What would Jesus do about the great army of unemployed who tramp the streets and curse the church, or are indifferent to it, lost in the bitter struggle for the bread that tastes bitter when it is earned on account of the desperate conflict to get it? Would He say it was none of His business?
What would Jesus do in the center of a civilization that hurries so fast after money that the girls employed in great business houses are not paid enough to keep soul and body together without fearful temptations? Where the demands of trade sacrifice hundreds of lads in a business that ignores all Christian duties toward them in the way of education and moral training and personal affection? Would Jesus, if He were here today as a part of our age and commercial industry, feel nothing, do nothing, say nothing in the face of these facts that every businessman knows?
How would you answer Pastor Maxwell’s questions?
I received this from a lady in my church, and it all sounds legit to me!
How to stay safe in the world today:
BUT, you will be pleased to learn that only 0.001% of all deaths occur in worship services in church, and these are usually related to previous physical illnesses.
Therefore, logic tells us that the safest place for you to be at any given point in time is at church!
Attend church and read your Bible: IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!
Some good reading from today…
“The book of Romans in a sentence: Because you were condemned (1:1 – 3:20) and God justified you (3:21-5:21), empowered you to be distinct (6-8), and explained His plan to keep His promises to Abraham (9-11), it is right for you to submit your life for Divine inspection (12:1-2), and live the life of a real believer (12:2-16:27).” —Dr. Randall D. Smith
[INFOGRAPHIC] I love the Bible study tools from The Overview Bible Project! Check out this one on the main characters in Genesis.
A great story about a marathon runner who intentionally loses the race.
The co-founder of The Weather Channel blasts the “global warming” crowd.
“It is too bad that anything so obvious should need to be said at this late date, but from all appearances, we Christians have about forgotten the lesson so carefully taught by Paul: God’s servants are not to be competitors, but co-workers.” —A.W. Tozer
“The truth is that evil is not a real thing at all, like God. It is simply good spoiled. That is why I say there can be good without evil, but no evil without good. You know what the biologists mean by a parasite—an animal that lives on another animal. Evil is a parasite. It is there only because good is there for it to spoil and confuse.” —C.S. Lewis
“Love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.” —C.S. Lewis
“In our time we have all kinds of status symbols in the Christian church—membership, attendance, pastoral staff, missionary offerings. But there is only one status symbol that should make a Christian congregation genuinely glad. That is to know that our Lord is present, walking in our midst!” —A.W. Tozer
Some good reading & listening from today…
“When A.B. Simpson succeeded it was in a big way. When he failed he made great failures. It had to be so. Men of his caliber do not make little mistakes. They fly too high and too far to steer their courses by city maps. They ask not, ‘What street is that?’ but ‘What continent?’ And when they get off of the course for a moment they will be sure to pull up a long way from their goal. Their range and speed make this inevitable. Little men who never get outside of their own yards point to these mistakes with great satisfaction. But history has a way of disposing of these critics by filing them away in quiet anonymity. She cannot be bothered to preserve their names. She is too busy chalking up the great successes and huge failures of her favorites.” —A.W. Tozer
“Jesus invites us to approach God the way a child approaches his or her daddy! And how do children approach their daddies? I went to a school playground to find out. When a five-year-old spots his father in the parking lot, how does he react? ‘Yippee!’ screamed a redheaded boy wearing a Batman backpack. ‘Pop! Over here! Push me!’ yelled a boy wearing a Boston Red Sox cap who scooted straight to the swings. Here’s what I didn’t hear: ‘Father, it is most gracious of thee to drive thy car to my place of education. Please know of my deep gratitude for your benevolence. For thou art splendid in thy attentive care and diligent in thy dedication.’ I heard kids who were happy to see their dads and eager to speak to them! God invites us to approach Him in the same manner.” —Max Lucado
“More faith is what we want, and the Lord is willing to give it, grace upon grace; He delights, especially, to strengthen the faith which we already possess by trying it, by sustaining it under the trial, and thus rooting and grounding it, and causing it to become firm and vigorous.” —Charles Spurgeon
[INFOGRAPHIC] The Overview Bible Project has a great chart on the authors of the Bible.
[AUDIO] This interview of the late Chuck Colson by Dr. James Dobson is very timely.
Craig T. Owens 