And He Shall Reign Forever and Ever

From Justin Taylor and Between Two Worlds:

John Piper from this past weekend's Sanctity of Life sermon:

As everyone knows, our new President, over whom we have rejoiced, does not share this reverence for the beginning of human life. He is trapped and blinded by a culture of deceit. On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, he said, “We are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.”

To which I say . . .

• No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women’s health; you are authorizing the destruction of half a million tiny women every year.
• No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for a million helpless people every year.
• No, Mr. President, killing our children does not cease to be killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. Call it what you will, they are dead, and we have killed them. And you, Mr. President, would keep the killing legal.

Some of us wept with joy over the inauguration of the first African-American President. We will pray for you. And may God grant that there arises in your heart an amazed and happy reverence for the beginning of every human life.

Pseudo-Journalism

As you may have seen, Ted Haggard and his former church are back in the news--revealing that he had had another improper relationship with a young man at the church.

The current pastor, Brady Boyd, explains the financial aspect of the church's settlement with the young man:

AP reports “the church reached a legal settlement to pay the man for counseling and college tuition, with one condition being that none of the parties involved discuss the matter publicly.”

“It wasn’t at all a settlement to make him be quiet or not tell his story,” Boyd said. “Our desire was to help him. Here was a young man who wanted to get on with his life. We considered it more compassionate assistance - certainly not hush money. I know what’s what everyone will want to say because that’s the most salacious thing to say, but that’s not at all what it was.”

So what did CNN.com choose as the lede for their story? Eric Marrapodi and Jim Spellman write:

A megachurch paid a 20-year-old man to keep silent about a sexual relationship he had with disgraced evangelical pastor Ted Haggard, a senior church pastor said.

It's a false lede--a direct contradiction of what the pastor actually said. This is incompetent reporting--as is most reporting by today's media.

Mollie Hemingway came to the same conclusion: "CNN.com, the story is salacious enough as it is. There’s really no need to break basic rules of journalism to spice it up, is there?"

Do You Have Jesus' Eyes?

“Do you see this woman?”
- Jesus to Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:44 )

The sight before his eyes was too much to take in. A notorious sinful woman was anointing Jesus with oil. Simon the Pharisee could not help but pass judgment both on Christ and the woman.

Jesus’ pointed question revealed Simon’s self-righteous spirit. “Do you see this woman?” Practically, He said, “Are we looking at the same woman?” and then gave a list of reasons why the sinful woman was actually in a better position spiritually than Simon!

Oh, Simon had all the religious rules down, but the sinful woman had come to Christ in true worship and devotion. Jesus saw her heart.

We cannot see into people’s hearts. But having eyes like Jesus will at least cause us to not judge others based solely upon what they wear or where they’ve been or what they’ve done.

He asks us pointedly, “Do you see them?” Do we see the lost the way that Jesus sees them? We can easily look at an unsaved person who has come to church and reflect on all their apparent unrighteousness, but Jesus looks at the same person and sees someone who has come to worship. We look at the way a person worships and may consider it strange and distracting, but Jesus sees this woman’s tears flowing down onto his feet, tears coming from a sincere heart.

Today Christ asks us, “Do you see that person the way I do? Do you realize that I died for them too?” When you see a neighbor trapped in a life of sin, what is your reaction? Does your heart fill with compassion because they are like “sheep without a shepherd” as did Jesus’ heart?

As followers of Christ, our prayer should be that He would give us His eyes, those eyes that pierce through the hardened heart, eyes that see the good beyond the sin’s ugly stain, eyes that see the life broken and ruined by iniquity and the restoration brought by an ugly cross. Ultimately, it’s the cross of Christ that shifts our focus and changes our vision.

written by Trevin Wax © 2009 Kingdom People blog

A Day for Mourning

January 22nd, 1973: Roe v. Wade was ruled upon in the United States Supreme Court, and since then thousands upon millions of children have needless been murdered--sometimes in the most grotesque ways imaginable.

And we thought civilization had progressed beyond the barbarian practices of old. FYI: abortion in America since 1973 has taken more lives than all wars and genocides in recorded history combined.

We are never without hope, however. If the Lord God Almighty exists, and He does, and is capable of changing the hearts of men, and He is, that we as a nation and a people can realize the grievous evil we've committed, we can repent, and we can work towards creating a culture that reveres the preciousness and sanctity of human life--rather than that life being expendable in the name of so-called "reproductive rights".

The Case for Life, Around the Web

John Piper, Lincoln's Logic on Slavery Applied to Abortion

R.C. Spoul, Video series on abortion (streamed on the web for free)

Robert P. George, Our Struggle for the Soul of Our Nation

Ed Whelan, Senate Testimony on Roe v. Wade (2005)

Michael New, The Case for Pro-Life Optimism

Star Parker and Gary Bauer, A Dream Unfulfilled: Roe v. Wade has Played a Big Role in the Devastation of the African-American Community.

(taken from http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/01/case-for-life-around-web.html)

From Washington

1) An Open Letter to Barack Obama
Ron Jones, who serves as the Senior Pastor of Immanuel Bible Church, has sent Barack Obama a powerful letter, asking him to reconsider his view on abortion.

2) Os Guinness has an editorial in today's USA Today on the speech he hopes President Obama will someday deliver on civility and religion in the public square.

3)Rick Warren tells his congregation that he will invoke Jesus' name and asks for their prayers.

4)John Piper explains how Barack Obama will make Christ a minister of condemnation.

5)Robinson's Prayer for Obama
What a bunch of nonsense this prayer is. Let's hope (and pray) that Rick Warren (a man not on my favorite list by far!) does far better!

6)Echoes of Babel: Our New National Sin

Ala Carte

Sanctified Facebooking
John Younts is the author of the book, Everyday Talk: Talking Freely and Naturally about God with Your Children. I've only had a chance to dip into this book, but what I read was very good.He's also blogging at the Shepherd's Press blog.
Here are some recent posts he's been doing about Facebook:
Facebook and You
Post Only What Is Helpful
It's Just Facebook
Facebook and Friends
Facebook and Your Time

I haven't read the entirety of the content myself, but felt the urge to pass it along

For the Christian curious about the Obama transition:
Dan Gilgoff has the details on a coalition presenting ideas to President-elect Obama's transition team.

I, as the social conservative right-wing bigot the left will label me as, find the agreements and allowences set forth in the working paper to be, as the French would say, a load of crap. But the story captures one's interest nontheless.

For presidential fun:
The Wall Street Journal has an interactive page showing which Bible was used for each inauguration, and which verse the President chose.



*Thanks to Justin Taylor over at Between Two Worlds for the links.

Unbelievable:
http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/2008/02/barack-obama-is-hope-of-entire-world.html