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Showing posts from May, 2012

Thunder

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Standing here under a metal awning at my daughter's possibly-rained-out softball game, I can't help but wonder why people are afraid of thunder. Thunder can startle you, certainly, and maybe it could hurt your ears, but its only purpose, so to speak, is to announce the lightning. That's what people should fear, if fear is to be a factor. One day, God will tell His Son to return to earth for His children - those who love Him - and an angel will announce it with a loud trumpet blast. Like lightning parts the sky, Jesus will descend from the eastern sky as the conquering King of kings. Don't fear the trumpet blast, but the lightning it announces: fear Jesus Who comes in righteous judgment and mercy. After all, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Words spoken from the stage at a certain recent graduation

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Presented-ed Jar-metry Two-thousand or twelve ... No comment.

Free Book Friday!!

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Okay, this is obviously the very first "Free Book Friday", and I can't promise it'll be here every Friday, but I will do it often. I will place links here to books you can (legally) download for FREE online. The first is a true Christian classic -- C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity . You can get this free PDF download here: http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/free-resources-pastors/152257-free-ebook-mere-christianity.html PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download the latest FREE version here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/ or an alternate FREE PDF reader here:  http://www.sparkpdf.com/reader/

Christian Metal

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Okay, here's the perennial question: Is there such a thing as "Christian" metal music ? It's usually asked as: Is there such a thing as "Christian" rock music? We could also ask: Is there any such thing as "Christian" music, period? The answer is .... YES. Most things are simply amoral - neither moral (good) nor immoral (bad) in essence. Take, for example, a tennis racket. When used for tennis, it accomplishes its purpose - therefore, it is "good" (moral). When used to attack an innocent passer-by, it becomes an instrument of ill purpose, and can therefore be called "bad" (immoral).  Now, of course, one must differentiate the actions and intents of the tennis racket from the person holding it. Did the tennis racket initiate the conflict, or cause the hand to move upon its handle? No. It can therefore be argued to still be amoral - neither good nor bad. The hand holding it, however, did cause the racket to be use

Voice of the Martyrs Executive Director TOM WHITE Apparently Commits Suicide

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May 9, 2012 This morning I opened a letter that arrrived yesterday from The Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry to the persecuted Christians worldwide, with the words "Important Message from the President" across the envelope. I assumed it was an urgent call for funds, prayers, etc. When I opened it and began to read, however, I saw quickly that I was wrong. The news it contained - that Executive Director Tom White had been found dead on April 18 - shocked me. The news that he had apparently taken his own life made the sadness grow. Then the revelation that he had apparently done this to avoid investigation (or hurt to the ministry and his family) over the accusation that he had "had inappropriate contact" with a minor girl sucker punched me in my ample gut. I hoped it wasn't true - that he had somehow mistakenly thought there was no way the ministry or his family could survive a scandal, that he was afraid of returning to prison (having spent 17 ye

Reverse Psychiatry

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May 8, 2012 Yes, you read that correctly. Yesterday, I was leaving a store in Natchitoches when I passed by two women talking. One said, "Ha! I used reverse pyschiatry on you!" "What?" the other one replied. "I used reverse psychiatry on you," she repeated. "Oh," was the response. I wanted so bad to correct them. But I didn't. Are you proud of me?