Links & Quotes

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Some great reading I came across today.

I am so blessed to work at the En Gedi Youth Center every day. Here’s a great article on the youth center in Mlive.

[INFOGRAPHIC] Where Did Your Tax Money Go?

“Are you becoming more sweet-spirited, more like Jesus? Are you looking soberly in the mirror each day and praying, ‘Lord, I want to conform to Your image in every area of my life’? Or has your bitterness taken root, turning into rebellion and hardness of heart? Have you learned to shield yourself from the convicting voice of God’s Spirit?” —David Wilkerson

“Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.” —A.W. Tozer

“I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing.” —C.S. Lewis

Passion Week Infographic

Passion week infographicJosh Byers produced a great resource for the Passion Week. It lists chronologically all of the events recorded in the Gospels for the week from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day, along with each of the Scripture references for those events. This would be meaningful way to read your Bible this week.

You can click the image to the left to view it magnified on your screen, or you can download a PDF version by clicking here → Passion week infographic.

If you really love Josh’s work, click here to go to his site to purchase a physical print.

But whatever you do, let’s observe this Passion Week with Bible reading and prayer.

Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from today.

“What satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” —C.S. Lewis

“Leadership requires vision, and whence will vision come except from hours spent in the presence of God in humble and fervent prayer?” —A.W. Tozer

[INFOGRAPHIC] Christ’s activities during the Passion Week.

I am proud of my heritage in the Assemblies of God, which is celebrating its centennial this year. Read the history of the fellowship’s creation here and here.

[VIDEO] Logan finds out he’s going to be a big brother.

Astronomers may have found some dark matter at the center of our galaxy. That’s cool, but if we can accept this science by faith, why can’t we accept the biblical version by faith?

Research says forgiving yourself makes you healthier physically.

“When should a Christian, then, be like Jesus Christ? Is there a time when he may strip off his regimentals—when the warrior may unbuckle his armor, and become like other men? Oh! no; at all times, and in every place let the Christian be what he professes to be.” —Charles Spurgeon

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

[INFOGRAPHIC] I love the resources from uknowkids.com. Check out this one on Online Identity Theft.

So you thought you were learning something during your all-night cramming session? Oops! Pulling All-Nighters Can Kill Brain Cells.

[INFOGRAPHIC] The New Testament church loved being together! Check out all the “one another” statements.

“Jesus Himself says, ‘Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 7:21). Sadly, multitudes of Christians are not troubled at all by their sin; their besetting habit does not bother them in the least. They have convinced themselves that God is so merciful and full of grace, He will pardon them even if they stubbornly continue in sin.” —David Wilkerson. Read more of his post Only By Faith.

Over the last 2000 years, look The Christian Contribution To Medicine.

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

[INFOGRAPHIC] How Long Is The Bible?

This is a part of a lengthy quote from Richard Baxter about a husband’s responsibility to maintain marital love: “Take more notice of the good, that is in your wives, than of the evil. Let not the observation of their faults make you forget or overlook their virtues. Love is kindled by the sight of love or goodness.” Check out the full quote.

[VIDEO] A pregnant mom finds out her son has Down Syndrome, and she’s scared. Watch how children with Down Syndrome respond to her.

John Piper on Lesbian Sex, HIV, Esau and Christ.

“You ask ‘for what’ God wants you. Isn’t the primary answer that He wants you. We’re not told that the lost sheep was sought out for anything except itself [Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:3-7]. Of course, He may have a special job for you: and the certain job is that of becoming more and more His.” —C.S. Lewis

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“The continued neglect of the Holy Spirit by evangelical Christians is too evident to deny and impossible to justify. … There can be no doubt that there is a huge disparity between the place given to the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures and the place He occupies in popular evangelical Christianity. In the Scriptures the Holy Spirit is necessary. There He works powerfully, creatively; here He is little more than a poetic yearning or at most a benign influence. There He moves in majesty, with all the attributes of the Godhead; here He is a mood, a tender feeling of good will.” —A.W. Tozer

“Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.” —C.S. Lewis

URGENT: United Nations Documents Human Rights Abuses In North Korea, equating the abuses here to those atrocities committed in Nazi Germany.

“Today, the United States is one of only four countries in the world—in the company of China, North Korea, and Canada—in which late-term abortions are allowed for any reason after a child is able to survive outside the womb.” —Heritage Foundation report. [FREE E-BOOK] How To Speak Up For Life

[VIDEO] U2 on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

Who Knew? 9 Amazing Uses For Aspirin

[INFOGRAPHIC] You need more sleep

Links & Quotes

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

4 Health Dangers Of People-Pleasing

“What is so profoundly disturbing here is that the one person who takes a specific oath to defend the Constitution—to protect the Constitution, to defend the laws of the United States and to enforce the laws—is the one bastardizing them. The rule of law is disintegrating before our eyes.” —Rush Limbaugh. Read this: How Far Can Obama Go?

Amazing story! Miracle Baby Born After Sustains The Life Of His Brain-Dead Wife

“You see, the Lord’s concept of ‘church’ is much different from ours. We think of church as being a ministry to people. It is a place where all the needs of God’s people—spiritual, physical and emotional—are met. Of course, that is all part of what makes up a church. But the true Church, according to Scripture, begins with ministry to Jesus Christ. His concept of the Church is anyplace there is ministry to Him.” —David Wilkerson

Belief in science takes faith: Statistical Errors In The Scientific Method. “Change your statistical philosophy and all of a sudden different things become important. Then ‘laws’ handed down from God are no longer handed down from God. They’re actually handed down to us by ourselves, through the methodology we adopt.” —Dr. Steven Goodman, a physician and statistician at Stanford

The Bible says God has placed eternity in every human heart. Can this be verified? Evidence Of Eternity In Our Hearts?

“With good reason the ancient proverb strongly recommended knowledge of self to man. For if it is considered disgraceful for us not to know all that pertains to the business of human life, even more detestable is our ignorance of ourselves, by which, when making decisions in necessary matters, we miserably deceive and even blind ourselves! But since this precept is so valuable, we ought more diligently to avoid applying it perversely. This, we observe, has happened to certain philosophers, who, while urging man to know himself, propose the goal of recognizing his own worth and excellence. And they would have him contemplate in himself nothing but what swells him with empty assurance and puffs him up with pride. But knowledge of ourselves lies first in considering what we were given at creation and how generously God continues his favor toward us, in order to know how great our natural excellence would be if only it had remained unblemished; yet at the same time to bear in mind that there is in us nothing of our own, but that we hold on sufferance whatever God has bestowed upon us. Hence we are ever dependent on him. Secondly, to call to mind our miserable condition after Adam’s fall; the awareness of which, when all our boasting and self-assurance are laid low, should truly humble us and overwhelm us with shame.” —John Calvin

The dangers of our national debt: America In Debt

Praying ‘Round & ‘Round

There are lot of different ways to look at the function of prayer, but please allow me to share one more with you. Perhaps this prayer cycle will help you see the value of each aspect of prayer.

Prayer cycle

(To download a PDF of this file, click here → Prayer cycle)

Each step in this cycle helps facilitate the next step. If any step breaks down, the whole cycle of prayer can grind to a halt. But as any part of the cycle is strengthened, the whole cycle expands and grows in potency!

  • We need to be be assured that God’s Word is true when it says to come to Him in prayer.
  • Once we are assured that God’s Word is true, then the Holy Spirit will illuminate His Word to our present circumstance, giving us the mind of Our Lord. This is called discernment.
  • Having discernment will bring us the peace that knows God hears us, and that God is working on our behalf and for His glory.
  • All of these steps flowing together allow us to pray and live in greater boldness, which fuels the whole cycle again.
  • At the heart of this cycle is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, who helps us at each step along the cycle of prayer.

Here are some Scriptures that correspond with the various steps in the cycle:

AssuranceIf you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7)

DiscernmentBut the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)

PeacePeace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

BoldnessAfter they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)

Holy Spirit EmpowermentIn the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:26-28)

The only way I know of to learn how to pray better is to pray more! Don’t wait for a better opportunity to begin to pray … Start right now!

Next Sunday I am continuing our series on prayer. If you are near Cedar Springs, please join us!

6 Quotes From “The Cell’s Design” (and a cool infographic too)

The Cell's DesignThe Cell’s Design by Fazale Rana, a distinguished biochemist, is an amazing apologetic for an intelligent designer of our universe: A Creator. You can read my full book review by clicking here. Below are a few quotes I wanted to pass along, and a graphic I created based on Rana’s findings.

“This elegance, evident in virtually all aspects of the cell’s chemistry, carries profound philosophical and theological significance that prompts questions about the origin, purpose, and meaning of life. Though I once embraced the evolutionary paradigm, its inadequate explanations for the origin of life coupled with the sophistication and complexity of the cell’s chemical systems convinced me as a biochemistry graduate student that a Creator must exist.”

“Richard Dawkins, an outspoken atheist, acknowledges that ‘biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.’”

“An event, system, or object is intentionally produced by a designer, then it will (1) be contingent, (2) be complex, and (3) display an independently specified pattern. … Three questions are used to determine if an event, system, or object stems from the activity of an intelligent agent. Can it be explained as a consequence of the laws of nature (necessity)? If yes, then it is not designed. If no, then can it be explained as a consequence of chance (contingent)? If yes, then it is not designed. If no, then does it display a specified pattern (specification)? If no, then it is not designed. If yes, then it must be the product of an intelligent designer.”

Intelligent design flowchart

(Click image for a larger view, or click here to download a PDF version → Intelligent design flowchart)

“These advances indicate that life’s bare essentials extend far beyond the number of proteins that must simultaneously occur for life to exist. Life’s minimum complexity also requires organization of these gene products within the cell.”

“It is superastro-nomically improbable for the essential gene set to emerge simultaneously through natural means alone. If left up to an evolutionary process, not enough resources or time exist throughout the universe’s history to generate life in its simplest form.”

“Instead of resembling a preschooler’s messy fingerpainting, the interior of the simplest cell is best described as a carefully planned and marvelously executed work of art—one that masterfully carries out life’s most basic processes in living color. Disrupting this arrangement is often lethal.”

How To Handle Persecution

Have you ever been persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ? The dictionary defines it this way—

(1) To pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religion, race, or beliefs; harass persistently; (2) To annoy or trouble persistently.

I think we in the west don’t truly understand persecution, but certainly there have been times when people are harassing us or troubling us because of our faith in God.

If you are being persecuted, that is cause for rejoicing! 

Check out these passages from the apostle Peter and from Jesus, and then take a look at the flowchart below—

But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! (1 Peter 3:14-17)

God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are My followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in Heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way. (Jesus in Matthew 5:11-12)

Persecution flowchart

(Click the picture for a larger view.)

Whether you are being persecuted or not, rejoice! and remember to pray for your fellow brothers and sister in Christ who are also being persecuted (Hebrews 13:3).