Links & Quotes

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Open Door USA reports that Christian persecution around the world has never been worse than it is now. We must pray!!

Here is a cool story about how God used some praying Christians to save a young girl from sex trafficking.

J. Warner Wallace says, “When [Richard] Dawkins and [Sam] Harris say we, as Christians, believe in something for which there is no supporting evidence, they simply betray their ignorance about the nature of evidence and the way in which detectives and prosecutors build cases.” Check out his post on the evidence that supports the Christian worldview.

Frank Viola has an encouraging word. He says, “If God has called you to a specific work, there is a time in which that work will find its greatest fulfillment and its widest impact.” Please read Your Time Has Not Yet Come.

“Angels might have wept as they saw the folly of men who sought anything except the Lord, Who alone can make a house His temple; Who alone can make a ministry to be a ministration of mercy; without Whose presence the most solemn congregation is but as the herding of men in the market, and the most melodious songs but as the shoutings of those who make merry at a marriage. Without the Lord, our solemn days, our new moons, and our appointed feasts, are an abomination such as His soul hates.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Remember always that religious emotion is only a servant.” ―C.S. Lewis

I love this! Like an experience from the Book of Acts is Pastor Saeed Abedini in his Iranian prison.

Craig Gross writes this about Fifty Shades Of Grey, “This is not a love story. This is not even an erotic story. This is a story of broken people continuing a cycle of dysfunction in their lives rather than dealing with their issues.” Read the rest of his post.

Links & Quotes

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“‘Let him ask of God’ [James 1:5]; that is the advice of the Scripture. We are all so ready to go to books, to go to men, to go to ceremonies, to anything except to God. Man will worship God with his eyes, and his arms, and his knees, and his mouth—with anything but his heart—and we are all of us anxious, more or less, until we are renewed by grace, to get off the heart-worship of God.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Newly published research combining genetic, language, and demographic data challenges the idea of a single lineage of languages and human populations evolving out of Africa. Instead, the data supports the idea that multiple people groups have independent origins—a condition one would predict if the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel happened as described in the Bible.” Read more in Out Of Babel.

Dr. Tim Elmore always has great insight for parents, teachers, coaches―anyone working with youth. Don’t let the title of this fantastic post fool you, because it’s not just for athletes: Helping Athletes Navigate A Short-Term, Shortcut Mindset.

This is not a quote from Teddy Roosevelt…

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…but it does, I believe, capture his mindset. This is a quote from one of my favorite US presidents: “We have a given problem to solve. If we undertake the solution, there is, of course, always danger that we may not solve it aright; but to refuse to undertake the solution simply renders it certain that we cannot possibly solve it aright.” ―Theodore Roosevelt

Links & Quotes

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I love studying my Bible, and I have loved discovering the great work at The Overview Bible Project! They have a new free email course that will send you a weekly email with a summary of every book of the Bible. Please sign up for this course by clicking here.

“If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note.” —C.S. Lewis

“God’s grace was God’s acting in Paul to make Paul work hard. So when Paul says, ‘Work out your salvation,’ he adds, ‘it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure’ (Philippines 2:13). Grace is power from God to do good things in us and for us.” —John Piper

“Society will be better off if the facts about pornography use and its consequences are widely and effectively circulated so that people from all walks of life can take account of them.” Read more in this post: Is Porn To Blame For The Declining Marriage Rate?

“‘Used to be,’ is not necessarily a mark of failure or even obsolescence. It’s more often a sign of bravery and progress. If you were brave enough to leap, who would you choose to ‘used to be’?” —Seth Godin

All God’s Alls

All God's Alls“His greatness no one can fathom” (Psalm 145:3).

God’s kingdom is everlasting and endures through all generations (v. 13). Look at all of God’s “alls”—

  • He is good to all (v. 9)
  • He has compassion on all (v. 9)
  • He is faithful to all His promises (v. 13)
  • He is loving toward all (v. 13)
  • He upholds all who fall (v. 14)
  • He lifts up all who are bowed down (v. 14)
  • All eyes look to Him (v. 15)
  • He satisfies all desires (v. 16)
  • He is All-righteous (v. 17)
  • He is All-loving (v. 17)
  • He is near to all who call on Him (v. 18)
  • He watches over all who love Him (v. 20)

My only appropriate response to all God’s “alls”—I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever. … My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever (vv. 1, 2, 21).

ALL praise to God FOREVER!

Halel

HalelThe last five psalms all start and end on the same note: “Praise the Lord!” This is actually the Hebrew word halel. In the English language it’s usually translated praise, but it can also mean boast about—our God has a lot about which I can boast!

In fact, there is so much to boast about concerning God, that the first halel psalm opens with, “I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 146:2).

Here are some of the other boast-worthy things these halel psalms list:

  • God upholds the cause of the oppressed
  • God gives food to the hungry
  • God sets prisoners free
  • God gives sight to the blind
  • God lifts up those bowed down
  • God loves the righteous
  • God watches over the alien
  • God sustains the orphan and widow
  • God gathers exiles
  • God heals the brokenhearted
  • God binds up our wounds
  • God knows all the stars by name
  • God sustains the humble
  • God cares for His creation
  • God delights in those who fear Him
  • God strengthens and blesses His people
  • God gives peace
  • God satisfies
  • God displays His splendor for all to see
  • God takes delight in His people
  • God crowns the humble with salvation
  • God gives us His Word

Halel! Just like the psalmist, I will boast about my Lord all my life; I will continually sing my boasts about Him all of my days!

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading & watching from today…

Stephen Miller reminds us that we don’t have to act differently when we pray: Be Yourself In Prayer.

Ken Davis is always hilarious. Check out The Confused Stage Of Life.

The American College of Pediatrics debunks the myth of “safe sex.”

Tim Dilena nails it: Why Worship Is Disappearing From Our Church Services.

“Christians have fallen into the habit of accepting the noisiest and most notorious among them as the best and the greatest. They too have learned to equate popularity with excellence, and in open defiance of the Sermon on the Mount they have given their approval not to the meek but to the self-assertive; not to the mourner but to the self-assured; not to the pure in heart who see God but to the publicity hunter who seeks headlines.” —A.W. Tozer

Parents and teachers, check out Tim Elmore’s post: How To Avoid Ruining A Kid’s Future.

As the Heritage Foundation’s Katrina Trinko says, “This isn’t okay”: States that voted against gay “marriage” now have it forced upon them.

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

“Are you allowing satan to magnify the memories of your spiritual failures? He will always keep them before you unless you take your stand and move up in faith. … Remember, the Bible does not teach that if a man falls down, he can never rise again. The fact that he falls is not the most important thing—but rather that he is forgiven and allows God to lift him up.” —A.W. Tozer

Christian leadership is not about being a lone ranger. Here are 12 benefits of team leadership.

Parents & grandparents, you should be aware of the sex education curriculum the US government has proposed.

George Whitfield was a very well-read, articulate preacher. Here are 13 powerful quotes from him.

“Away with tears and fears and troubles! United in wedlock with the eternal Godhead Itself, our nature ascends into the Heaven of Heavens. So it would be impious to call ourselves ‘miserable.’ On the contrary, Man is a creature whom the Angels—were they capable of envy—would envy. Let us lift up our hearts!” —C.S. Lewis

Pastor Saeed Abedini has been held in an Iranian prison for two years. This letter that he wrote to his daughter for her 8th birthday is both moving and convicting. I hope I could be as faith-filled as he is if I was in a similar situation.

Delightful Fear

Delightful FearThe 112th Psalm begins with an interesting idea that almost sounds like an oxymoron: delightful fear—

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands. (v. 1)

  • Fear and delight
  • Worship and obedience
  • Reverence and action
  • Awe and love

These are not contrasting ideas, but two sides of the same coin. They are completions of each other, and they are essential to a healthy relationship with Jehovah. And then, oh!, the blessings that flow from God to me!

  • Mighty children (v. 2)
  • Abundant household (v. 3a)
  • Enduring righteousness (v. 3b)
  • Brightly shining life (v. 4)
  • Reciprocated generosity (v. 5)
  • Security in troubled times (v. 6a)
  • A lasting legacy (v. 6b)
  • No fear of calamity (v. 7)
  • Eternal life (v. 8)
  • Highly honored (v. 9)

After nine verses of these amazing blessings to the one who delightfully fears God, only one verse is left for the one who doesn’t—he is vexed, wasting away, and frustrated.

I don’t know about you, but I want to delightfully fear—worship, obey, revere and love—Jehovah my God!

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

“As much as half of the water in Earth’s oceans could be older than the Sun, a study has found.” This report is more evidence of the accuracy of the account of Creation in the Bible. Of course the water has been around longer than the sun: Genesis says that God created water in Day 2, but the sun wasn’t created until Day 4.

“I have little fear that any nation or combination of nations could bring down the United States and Canada by military action from without. But this I do fear—we sin and sin and do nothing about it. There is so little sense of the need of repentance—so little burden for the will of God to be wrought in our national life. I fear that the voice of blood will become so eloquent that God Almighty will have no choice but to speak the word that will bring us down. I do pray often: ‘Oh God, send a revival of repentance and the fear of God that will sweep through the continent that we may be spared and that we may honor Thee!’” —A.W. Tozer

Max Lucado challenges us to invite God in.

Sarah Rainer, a PhD in psychology, shows how Christianity and psychology should be integrated.

It is unconscionable to me how my tax dollars are being diverted by a so-called “health care” program to destroy life. Read how Obamacare funds Planned Parenthood’s heinous, murderous activities.

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading & watching from today…

[VIDEO] John Maxwell on the importance of follow-through.

Tim Dilena’s post—Pay For The Salsa & Chips—is a great reminder of the power of honesty.

Quite intriguing: Are We Evolving Stupidity?

Another reason to stand-up and speak out for the true definition of marriage—Incest: Another Disordered Image Of Worship.

Soul love is the soul of all love. To pet and pamper and indulge your child, as if this world was all he had to look forward to, and this life the only season for happiness—to do this is not true love, but cruelty. It is treating him like some beast of the earth, which has but only one world to look to, and nothing after death. It is hiding from him that grand truth, which he ought to be made to learn from his very infancy,—that the chief end of his life is the salvation of his soul.” Read more from J.C. Ryle in True Love For The Child’s Soul.

Charles Spurgeon: No One Can Believe For Me.

“Pain is terrible, but surely you need not have fear as well? Can you not see death as the friend and deliverer? It means stripping off that body which is tormenting you: like taking off a hair-shirt or getting out of a dungeon. What is there to be afraid of? You have long attempted (and none of us does more) a Christian life. Your sins are confessed and absolved. Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. Remember, though we struggle against things because we are afraid of them, it is often the other way round—we get afraid because we struggle. Are you struggling, resisting? Don’t you think Our Lord says to you ‘Peace, child, peace. Relax. Let go. Underneath are the everlasting arms. Let go, I will catch you. Do you trust Me so little?’” —C.S. Lewis

[VIDEO] Sesame Street parodies Star Wars to teach us about self-control.