November 01, 2015
October 31, 2015
We will not be denied any good thing in Christ
"Surely if he would not spare his own Son one stroke, one tear, one groan, one circumstance of misery, it can never be imagined that he should, after this, deny or withhold from his people, for whose sakes all this was suffered, any mercies, any comforts, any privilege, spiritual or temporal, which is good for them."
- John Flavel
"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? "
- Romans 8:32
October 29, 2015
October 27, 2015
From the honest pen of Isaac Watts
How long wilt Thou conceal Thy face?
My God, how long delay?
When shall I feel those heav’nly rays
That chase my fears away?
How long shall my poor laboring soul
Wrestle and toil in vain?
Thy word can all my foes control
And ease my raging pain.
- Isaac Watts
October 26, 2015
October 24, 2015
October 06, 2015
The Failures of Both Pride and Self-pity
"Consider the relationship between boasting and self-pity.
Both are manifestations of pride. Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to suffering. Boasting says, "I deserve admiration because I have achieved so much." Self-pity says "I deserve admiration because I have sacrificed so much." Boasting is the voice of pride in the heart of the strong. Self-pity is the voice of pride in the heart of the weak. Boasting sounds self sufficient. Self-pity sounds self sacrificing.
The reason self-pity does not look like pride is that it appears to be needy. But the need arises from a wounded ego and the desire of the self-pitying is not really for others to see them as helpless, but heroes. The need self-pity feels does not come from a sense of unworthiness, but from a sense of unrecognized worthiness. It is the response of unappluaded pride."
- John Piper
From the book 'Desiring God', quoted in the book 'Future Grace', pg 94-95
March 15, 2015
"The Men" - starring Marlon Brando
Over the last few days I have watched Marlon Brando's acting debut in "The Men". It is almost hard to believe that this was his first film. Even from this movie, he was a classic. This is a movie about men that had become paraplegics while fighting during World War II and been confined to a veteran's hospital. I thought that that casting of the men in the movie was really well done. Each of the men had personalities that were much different from the others and provided insight into how each person might handle the hardships that would come. The movie is dated from the standpoint that there is not nearly the stigma about handicaps that once existed in the US, but it is still good to reflect on how we might have other stigmas about people in our own day and age.
March 01, 2015
Context and Understanding
If you were born blind, and I was given the job of
explaining the color red to you, is there really any way that I could do it? I
would never be able to explain completely what an apple looks like or how it is
related to pink or purple. You would
have no context for understanding what it meant. But if somehow one day, you
were to gain your sight, I would only have to say, "See, this is
red", and it would make complete sense to you.
If there was a law that you had to interpret, but we
stripped away any information on who wrote the law, why the law was created,
the judges that had interpreted the law, the precedents that affected the law,
as well as any amendments that changed the meaning of the law - would it have
any meaning? Would the law be anything more than words on a page?
It is the same with God. If we strip away what the Bible
teaches about God, we can have no true understanding of him. Everything will be
guess work at best, or whatever we think he or she should be - while leaving out all the things that we would
never want a god to be, at worst. If I worship a god that is not found in the
Bible, I am worshiping a god that I basically made up in my own head and
heart.
February 27, 2015
Mrs. McGinty's Dead - Agatha Christie
I have been a huge Agatha Christie/Hercule Poirot fan for many years. Today, I just finished her 25th novel using him as her main character - "Mrs. McGinty's Dead".Poirot is approached by police Superintendent Spence - whom he has worked with previously. Spence worked to put a man, James Bentley, away for the violent murder of his landlady because of the evidence. James Bentley is now to be put to death for the crime. However, Spence is not convinced that the personality of the man he arrested could ever be brought to the point of murdering another person. Hercule Poirot agrees to look into the killing by moving into the small town of Broadhinny. In classic Christie fashion, Poirot begins to find bits and pieces of non-traditional evidence and psychology that may indicate that the true murderer is still living in the small town. Poirot even comes face to face with his own death while pursuing the truth.
Carpe Diem - Seize the Day, Boys
Saw these pictures at Columbus International High School the other day, and it reminded me of the classic scene from Dead Poet's Society. Reminded me again that we need continually seize the day...
February 26, 2015
July 29, 2014
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