Culture: Delicious but Dangerous

I agree with David Wells when he writes:

"...it is not possible to live with any degree of authenticity as a Christian unless the modern world is understood to be what, in fact, it is: delicious but dangerous, like the Turkish delight that proved so irresistible and so lethal to one small boy in C.S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" (16).

Any church that fails to help their people recognize that we're still pilgrims passing through, that this is not our home, that the concerns of this life are not primary, that life in the West--the Disneyland called America as John Piper calls it--is not our friend.

I especially saw this earlier today (on Al Mohler's blog) when I read these words from Steven Weinberg's (Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas) review of Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion in the London Times where he writes:

"...although most Americans may be sure of the value of religion, as far as I can tell they are not very certain about the truth of what their own religion teaches. According to a recent article in the New York Times, American evangelists are in despair over a poll that showed that only 4 per cent of American teenagers will be “Bible-believing Christians” as adults. The spread of religious toleration provides evidence of the weakening of religious certitude. Most Christian groups have historically taught that there is no salvation without faith in Christ. If you are really sure that anyone without such faith is doomed to an eternity of Hell, then propagating that faith and suppressing disbelief would logically be the most important thing in the world – far more important than any merely secular virtues like religious toleration. Yet religious toleration is rampant in America."

And...

"Even though American atheists might have trouble winning elections, Americans are fairly tolerant of us unbelievers. My many good friends in Texas who are professed Christians do not even try to convert me. This might be taken as evidence that they don’t really mind if I spend eternity in Hell, but I prefer to think (and Baptists and Presbyterians have admitted it to me) that they are not all that certain about Hell and Heaven. I have often heard the remark (once from an American priest) that it is not so important what one believes; the important thing is how we treat each other. Of course, I applaud this sentiment, but imagine trying to explain “not important what one believes” to Luther or Calvin or St Paul. Remarks like this show a massive retreat of Christianity from the ground it once occupied...."

He nails us!!! And, the main reason for his experiences with Christians is not so much that science has destroyed religious certitude (although I do think that's contributed) that we've fallen in love with all the "stuff"--the fun, the values, the thought, the affluence--of our world and greatly fear not fitting in with those in it, forgetting that the world is not the Christian's friend because those who love it are God's enemy (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15).

Sex-change at 12 Years-Old!?!

UPDATE: Right after posting, I read this:

"If you [erroneously] exalt the individual and make emotions the path to truth, then whatever you feel most strongly will be considered both good and necessary for growth. ... That is why the unpardonable sin in today's culture is to either 'deny' or suppress your emotions. Emotions point to needs, and to deny your needs is to deny something God-given and God-like." [But] "just because I feel a 'need'...doesn't mean that this desire is really a 'God-given need,' a 'legitimate need,' or a 'primal need.' Perhaps what I am calling 'need' is really disappointment or grief, or perhaps it is my demandingness and lust" (Ed Welch, When People are Big and God is Small, 87, 89).

*******

Check out this story of a 14 year-old German boy named Tim who convinced his parents he was really a girl, pictured above, named Kim trapped in a boy's body.

Thanks to $40,000 in treatments this boy now has the parts of a girl. If you read the story, did you notice that the pronouns in the article changed after the therapy is described?

What happened to parents who say "No," or "Are you nuts?" What happened to psychiatrists who say "What do you watch on TV?" or "How is your home life?" So much for "He's a teenager. He'll grow out of it."

What makes a man male? His parts or his nature? In other words, just because his parts changed, does that mean he's no longer male? If a man lost his "equipment" from cancer, would he no longer be male? What if he lost it, and wore dresses and makeup? If a woman lost all of her "equipment" in an accident and wore men's clothing and talked with a deep voice, would she cease being female? I think not.

What did people do who thought like Tim before sex-change operations? They fought the thoughts in their mind with reality, or gave into them and were miserable.

My point: Just because you think or feel something, doesn't make it true not matter how strong the thought or feeling is. So much for self-control. If I feel it, it must be true?

The reality is Kim is Tim, and just because Tim took hormones to change his body's appearance, and just because he wears women's clothing, doesn't make him Kim. In fact, nothing can make Tim Kim.

Confronting Their Lord

This is a terribly insightful chapter from Augustine's Confessions. I'm constantly amazed at how insightful he on his own soul, and how eloquent he is. I understand how this is considered a classic of Western literature, let alone Christian literature. I reprint the chapter in its entirety here for your benefit. He said...

"Meanwhile my sins were being multiplied. My mistress was torn from my side as an impediment to my marriage, and my heart which clung to her was torn and wounded till it bled. And she went back to Africa, vowing to You never to know any other man and leaving with me my natural son by her. But I, unhappy as I was, and weaker than a woman, could not bear the delay of the two years that should elapse before I could obtain the bride I sought. And so, since I was not a lover of wedlock so much as a slave of lust, I procured another mistress—not a wife, of course. Thus in bondage to a lasting habit, the disease of my soul might be nursed up and kept in its vigor or even increased until it reached the realm of matrimony. Nor indeed was the wound healed that had been caused by cutting away my former mistress; only it ceased to burn and throb, and began to fester, and was more dangerous because it was less painful" (VI.15).

This is a man in bondage. He had his mistress, if I remember correctly, for over a decade, but his mother arranged a marriage for him to a very young girl--he says, two years too young.

This was not easy as it tore his heart to bleeding to leave his mistress.

He particularly focuses on her vow not to know another man. He is caught by these words because he couldn't make that kind of commitment. He was trapped by his sin, "a slave of lust." So he got another mistress whose company relieved the burning and throbbing of loosing the first.

As he looks back, he understands that a binding sin in a person's life is a disease of the soul that people "nurse" and "keep in vigor" and even "increase."

It is here that our evangelism must confront a person, as we'll see with Augustine. What is lord? What's going to control / rule their heart? This may take awhile, but we must keep this in mind whenever giving the gospel to a person.

Grandpa Update

My grandpa Hoover just got back from the doctor where we found out one bad news and two good newses.

The bad news is that when he fell last week and landed on his bedside table, he broke a rib. There's no treatment for that. It simply heals on its own.

The good news is that he gained one pound and his liver function is improving.

Worship, Pastoring, and The Savior

Here are some highlights from my Bible reading today.

A psalm of worship...

Psalm 67

0 A Psalm. A Song.
1 God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us-- Selah.
2 That Your way may be known on the earth, your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

...a mission statement for pastors...

"We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me" (Colossians 1:28-29).

...and to exalt the Savior.

Jesus "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:15-20).

Christian Coaches in Superbowl

Check out this teaser for a World Magazine article on Tony Dungy, who's Indianapolis Colts are taking on the Chicago Bears this Sunday in the Super Bowl. Aside from being the first two African-American coaches in the big game (the fact getting all the hype), they're both real Christians.

Raising Godly Kids

Parents, if you don't know about Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp, please find it and read it. It is a wonderful resource for parents, or for grandparents to give to parents, or for those thinking about having kids, or for parents who have kids who are out of control, or for children's ministry workers, etc.

I've heard Mr. Tripp speak in person and on mp3. He is a good teacher who really knows what he's talking about biblically and experientially. And, the principles in he gives also crossover well to almost all areas of life where you're dealing with other people.

Also, the publisher's website (shepherdpress.com) has pages with recommended reading, useful articles, and a seminar schedule where you can check for events in your area.

I Did It My Way

Augustine tells of a socialist plan he and his friends conceived that went south as soon as they considered what their wives would think of it in chapter 6, paragraph 14 of his Confessions. His comment on their plans shows the folly of fighting against God's will in our lives.

"...our steps followed the broad and beaten ways of the world; for many thoughts were in our hearts, but "Your counsel stands fast forever." In Your counsel You mocked ours, and prepared Your own plan...."

What plans are you making that more resemble the "ways of the world" than the wisdom of God? Don't know? How well do you know the wisdom of God found in His Word so you can check what kind of plans you have? This is the question I keep asking myself.

Learn Sarkhanese!!!

In his book Above All Earthly Pow'rs, David Wells summarizes the book The Ugly American to make an important point about a church's faithfulness while engaging the culture.

"...the reader early on is introduced to Louis Sears...[who] settles on becoming the United States' ambassador to the fictional Asian country of Sarkhan. However, he neither learns the language nor the customs of this country. Indeed, he forbids his staff from becoming too involved in Sarkhanese society. The problem which arises, of course, is that he does not know what is happening, since he cannot read the papers, and in Sarkhanese society, etiquette does not allow for translators to pass on bad news to the person for whom they are translating. Furthermore, he cannot communicate American interests to most people since he does not speak their language and they do not understand his" (10).

Wells then makes this application of The Ugly American to church ministry:

"Perhaps, then, we might say that on the one end we have those theologies which have learned Sarkhanese, learned the local culture and habits, but have lost touch with the country whose policies and interests they are supposed to represent as ambassadors. Instead, having cut themselves loose, they have come to see their oles as simply representing their own agendas and policies and passing them off as if they were those of the country whose ambassadors they supposedly are. On the other end, we have those theologies which are self-consciously ambassadorial but which fail to learn the Sarkhanese language and customs. Thus they are hobbled in their ability to communicate both the content of, and the reasons for, their country's policy decisions" (10-11).

This must not be because...

"...American culture is undergoing a drastic change in cultural mood, thereby transforming the missionary context in which the Church is living" (11; italics mine).

So, what should our response be?

"...the history of the church shows that in every generation there are cultural challenges...and yet generation after generation the Church has joyfully proclaimed the greatness of Christ in his humility in assuming our flesh, taking upon him our sin as if it were his won, and in conquering that sin also conquering both its consequence of death and the devil. The looming threats of aggressive religions, of hostile government powers, of tribes and nations bound in their opposition to Christ, are no match for the power of God made known in the gospel" (11).

Yes! Yeah God!

Therefore, the goal of every church and pastor should be the goal of this book: to learn the languages and customs of the changing culture to promote and proclaim the unchanging message of Christ crucified. May God help in this great task.

Pastoral Ministry & Knowledge of Christ

The synchronicity on this was cool. My last daily Bible readings were in Hosea 4 and Philippians 3 where it gives us yet another prophetic diagnosis of our sick condition in both the Western church in general and in pastoral ministry in particular:

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." (Hosea 4:6).
"And it will be, like people, like priest; so I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds" (Hosea 4:9).

Pastors, why are your people being destroyed by the world, the flesh, the devil, temptations and trials they face in their lives? Youth pastors, why can't your kids handle peer pressure, and why do so many fall away when they graduate from high school? Because you teach them everything but the Bible, and because your teaching of the Bible is shallow because your knowledge of God is shallow. Brothers, this should not be!

I heard a Christian woman say yesterday "I saw his tattoos and said 'That guy can be my pastor.'" What is that? Pastors, why is it that goal of our clothing, appearance, entertainment, tastes and speech is "if I'm like them, they'll like / respect / listen to / be impressed with / come back to hear me?" God rebukes Israel's priests for taking their cues from the culture and seeking to "connect" with it, rather than being an example of godliness to the culture.

Instead, what should your ministry reflect? This...

"I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Phil 3:8-10).

May your life and ministry reflect this simple desire that Paul had 2000 years ago: to know Christ really and deeply and experientially in the midst of his day to day life.

Dinos WITH humans?

Is that...that looks like a Stegosaurs! My sciences teachers told me dinosaurs went extinct millions of years before humans evolved. If they're right, I guess stegosaurs evolved the ability to draw themselves.

This fascinating article as well as this site give us more proof that dinosaurs and human beings co-existed relatively recently...just like they would if the Bible's account of creation is true...which it is.

Church Group Solicits a Prostitute

The byline of this story says it all: Thanks to a church-run hospice, one disabled man was granted his dying wish: to lose his virginity.

My favorite line is from Sister Frances, the founder of the hospice named the Douglas House in Oxford: "I know that some people will say 'You are a Christian foundation. What are you thinking about?' But we are here for all faiths and none." ... "It is not our job to make moral decisions for our guests. We came to the conclusion that it was our duty of care to support Nick emotionally and to help ensure his physical safety."

Question: Does it "support" someone emotionally to aid a person in sinning against themselves, the prostitute, his parents and God?

Grandpa Update

My grandpa, who's name by the way is Hoover Cox, fell last night. At around 3am he stood up after retrieving something that fell from his dresser when he got dizzy and tipped backwards, hitting the middle of his back on a small table and landing on his bed.

Today, he has a swollen lump with a bruise and cut where his back hit the table, and I'm sure he's getting more and more depressed about his condition. Again, any advice would be very helpful, as well as your prayers. Thank you.

Gender & The Bible

I spent at least 3 hours early this morning helping my good friend think through and respond to this short article by Mrs. Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Rev. Billy Graham, on gender and the Bible from yesterday's washingtonpost.com religion section called "On Faith."

Please take the 3 minutes to read what she has to say. I do believe hers represents the majority position in Western evangelicalism today, though I don't believe it's the Bible's position. I'm not going to post my 5 page response here, but only the summary and conclusion.

Positively, I found a lot I could agree with like women being oppressed historically, the Bible being God's Word, and salvation being found in Jesus Christ alone. I was blessed to see her end the article with the gospel.

Negatively, I found the article, first, extremely vague. For instance, what does she mean by "equality?" And, who's her opponent? What view is she writing against? Societal discrimination? Evangelical complementarians? The Qur'an? The Upanishads? I don't know. If she's not writing against someone, but simply teaching what she thinks the Bible says, does she know that her view has substantial disagreement from more than just backwoodsy, beer-drinking, wife-beating, Tony Saprano types? I don't know that either.

Second, her appeal to Jesus and the early church completely lacked any exegesis, any precision in interpretation, and worst of all, it lacked any explicit teachings by either Jesus or the apostles--most damning to a position wanting to be biblical. Instead she rests the entire weight of her argument on a biased reading filled with implication and innuendo.

Third, she says nothing about the texts that explicitly challenge her view (1 Cor 11:3, 7-13, 14:34-35, 1 Tim 2:11-14, Eph 5:21-33, Col 3:18-19, 1 Pet 3:1-7). In fact, we don’t even know what her view is in light of those texts because she treats these key biblical texts, the ones that actually address the gender issue, as if they didn't even exist.

Conclusion: Because of the problems stated above, her article ultimately fails to convey what the Bible actually teaches about gender, the very goal she was setting out to do.

So, what does the Bible teach about gender? Briefly...

First, the Bible does teach that as God's image-bearers, men AND women have the same essence (i.e., the image dei), and are therefore, equal in value, worth and dignity. Neither one is more the image of God than the other (cf. Gen 1:26-28).

Second, despite this equality, the Bible also teaches that men and women have different roles in the home and in the church (cf. 1 Cor 11:3, 7-13, 14:34-35, 1 Tim 2:11-14, Eph 5:21-33, Col 3:18-19, 1 Pet 3:1-7), which by the way, is NOT based on the Fall or sin and therefore, was NOT reversed by Jesus.

In the same way, despite having different roles--the husband as loving leader, the wife as submissive helper, and male, not female or mixed gender, leadership in the church--men are not more worthy, more valuable or superior to women, nor are women less valuable, less worthy or inferior to men. The two genders were meant by the God who created them to complement each other.

Men and women are both equal in value and different in roles. The first pertains to essence, what they are. The second pertains to function, what they do. To steal a line from Mrs. Lotz, only when THAT complementarian message is “read, applied, obeyed, and lived out” from the Bible will women be “treated with respect and honor as co-heirs with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God.”

Now, just in case you think I'm making this distinction up, where else do we see equality in essence, in value, in worth, in dignity, but difference in roles? Do you know? Give up? The...Trinity. The Father is not more equal than, not more valuable than, not more worthy than, not more dignified than the Son or the Spirit because all 3 are equally God. Yet, the Son still submits to the Father (John 5:30, 6:38, 8:28, 12:49, 14:10), and the Spirit still submits to the Father (John 14:16, 26) and the Son (John 15:26, 16:7, 14) because while each one is equally God, each one also has His own unique and different role.

One last thing. If Christians like Mrs. Lotz can devise an argument that uses vagueness, imprecision and innuendo while ignoring relevant texts to conclude that the Bible teaches her evangelical feminist / egalitarian position, than the Bible can be made to teach anything. Therefore, at it’s core her whole article is a direct attack on the authority of Scripture to dictate what's true and virtuous.

There's a lot more that could to be said about her article and the gender issue, but I'm convinced very few people read posts this long anyway. So, for more on this, see Wayne Grudem’s book Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? (which is on sale here for 40% off until Feb 15th).

Grandpa Update

I talked to my grandpa last night, and told him about all of you praying for him. He wanted me to let you know how grateful he is for all of you and and how kind you are to pray for someone you don't know.

Also, he's been suffering every night for months from restless leg syndrome where his legs, especially his left, have a dull, achy pain all night that keeps him from sleeping. Many nights he's up past 3, 4 or 5am!

Well, God was particularly gracious toward him last night. After talking with him and encouraging him to keep fighting he asked if I'd place my hand on his leg and pray for it, so I did. He just told me that his leg didn't hurt at all last night and that he slept just fine.

Praise God, and thank you all for your prayers!!!

Passion & Pastoring

These are some excerpts from my Bible reading today that God used to really minister to me. The first has to do with a person's passion, and the second has to do with the role and responsibilities of a church and its pastor(s).

I'm convinced that the key to reading anything well, especially the Bible, begins with reading slowly, so give it a try and let me know what you think.

Psalm 63:1-4

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

Ephesians 4:11-16

And [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Pastor: Relevant or Biblical?

As someone who’s been both studying and teaching Christian theology for the past 10 years at the college level and above, these words from Above All Earthly Pow’rs are absolutely critical for reaching people with the Bible’s message:

“…theology, if it is true to its own nature, must be missiological in its intent. Its task is not only to understand the nature of biblical truth but also to ask how that truth addresses the issues of the day. Churches today, who send out missionaries to other parts of the world, would be considered greatly mistaken if they instructed those missionaries to depend only on the Word of God and not to attempt to understand the people to whom they have been sent to minister. But the same token, evangelical theology should not need to justify any attempt that it makes to understand the context into which it is called to speak. If there is self-justification to be made, it is by those theologians who, as D.M. Baillie observed, ‘are apt to be deaf to the questionings of the outside world’” (10).

Today, biblical knowledge is severely undervalued on the priorities of search committees and elder boards when looking for any level of pastoral candidates. Right theology, a solid grasp of the Bible’s content and the Bible’s solid grasp on their hearts has been replaced by having a connection at the church, being spiritual, cool, funny, dynamic, approachable, having sideburns, a fashion sense, a wallet chain and a vision.

To our context, therefore, it is important to reverse David Wells’ words to say it is equally true that any church or theologian or pastor who thinks they can be experts in being relevant with our culture / context / milieu while having a Sunday-school knowledge of the Bible is also “greatly mistaken” as they need to justify why they’ve purposely made themselves deaf to the questionings and commands of God through His Word.

Saddam's Reign of Terror

This weekend I watched a show on the National Geographic channel called Saddam's Reign of Terror, which will air again this coming Saturday at 9pm. This rather tame expose chronicled his rise to power, his escapades into war and especially his brutality through images, videos and the testimony of eyewitnesses and/or survivors.

I was riveted to the TV screen, in a rage-filled awe that the world's powers did nothing to stop him for decades. I was especially angry that we decided to leave him in power and not help the Shiite and Kurdish uprising after the first gulf war. Ooooh! I was mad. And now, after President Bush finally toppled his Baathist regime, he's more demonized than Saddam, the real demon. The world is so upside-down sometimes...most of the time.

However, there was nothing upside-down or out of place when Saddam's statue in Baghdad was toppled and the people cheered. I have to be honest. I got teary-eyed, having a much better idea why they were cheering after seeing what that monster did. Solomon's wisdom in Proverbs 11:10 became much more clear: "When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting."

Question: After watching what he and his cronies did, I was happy he got the death penalty for his crimes, that justice was done. I think justice is a good thing, a beautiful thing. Injustice, like the first OJ verdict, is bad and ugly, but justice is right. It's beautiful.

As a Christian, am I wrong for thinking like that? Also, in one sense, all human beings are wicked according to the Bible (cf. Rom 3:9-19), and in another sense, Saddam Hussein is wicked. Is there a difference and what is it?

Horrific Anniversary (Pt 2)

Please watch this 6 part photo gallery and this short video from National Geographic's In The Womb of the fetus in the womb, and then pass it on to your kids and family and friends so that they get a good picture in their mind as to what is being aborted / murdered.

However, despite all this, I'm now convinced after skimming this post that even with the pictures of what a fetus is and what an abortion does that abortion will not be outlawed or rare because, ultimately, it's not that "we live in a culture of death but because we live in a culture of me."

Grandpa Update

My mom told me today that my grandpa told his girlfriend that he feels like giving up.

By the time I got home, he was already in bed so I could not talk with him.

So, please pray for his physical, mental and spiritual well-being and that I'll have wisdom in what to say and how to say it.

I love my grandpa very very much, and want to do all I can to encourage him not to give in, but to continue fight against cancer. Thank you.

Culture: Horrific Anniversary

34 years ago, January 22, 1973, abortion was legalized in the United States. I thank God my pastor mentioned this horrific anniversary from the pulpit this morning and prayed for young women, the city and our nation.

Did you know that today, 46 million abortions will take place around the world (click here for more stats)? That's over 126,000 every day! Over 5000 per hour! Almost 90 abortions every minute!!! In the US, that's 3700 every day or 154 every hour, making a woman's womb--not some slum or ghetto--the most dangerous place in America.

But, what is abortion? I asked my class of 35 Christian college students and not one of them knew what it was. So, I described it. In particular, I described partial birth abortion, something they had no clue about, though they'd all heard the word, but thought this was a political, not moral issue.

I don't apologize for the photos. After seeing an abortion video at a Stand to Reason Master's Series some year ago, I was forever changed. I am convinced that we're not more outraged by abortion because its been conveniently couched as a political rather than moral issue in the public square. And, as a political issue its easy to keep a safe, intellectually detached distance from it.

Pictures don't let you do that. We hate the holocaust because of the pictures. We hate Darfur because of the pictures. We hate Rawanda because of the pictures.

Pictures tell us what's really going on with no bias or filter. It's raw and real, and only when you have the truth, in this case only when you know what abortion really is and does, can you make an informed decision about the rightness or wrongness of this moral issue.

Finally, if you want more information about abortion, especially how to explain and defend the pro-life cause, please please PLEASE take advantage of this free offer from Stand To Reason.

Real Objections to Christianity

Augustine spoke of the steps it took for him to be saved in his Confessions (see an indication of this in Book VI, chap 1 here and my comments on it here).

At the end of chap 11 and at the beginning of chap 12 (see both here) he talks about the real reason why he kept himself from giving his life fully to Christ. He said:

"I delayed my conversion to the Lord; I postponed from day to day the life in thee, but I could not postpone the daily death in myself. I was enamored of a happy life, but I still feared to seek it in its own abode, and so I fled from it while I sought it. I thought I should be miserable if I were deprived of the embraces of a woman, and I never gave a thought to the medicine that thy mercy has provided for the healing of that infirmity, for I had never tried it. As for continence [i.e., self-control], I imagined that it depended on one’s own strength, though I found no such strength in myself."

And...

"I quoted against [Alypius] the examples of men who had been married and still lovers of wisdom, who had pleased God and had been loyal and affectionate to their friends. I fell far short of them in greatness of soul, and, enthralled with the disease of my carnality and its deadly sweetness, I dragged my chain along, fearing to be loosed of it. Thus I rejected the words of him who counseled me wisely, as if the hand that would have loosed the chain only hurt my wound."

Augustine resisted the happiness to be found in Christianity because he was enthralled with the deadly sweetnesses of sexual immorality. This kept him from becoming a Christian after the intellectual hindrances were removed (and, I suspect the reason for his intellectual objections was his love of sexual sin).

Augustine's life reminds us that when doing evangelism there are the dozens of objections a person gives us, and then there are the real ones. Ask God for wisdom to see these through the smoke screens we're so often trying to blow away.

No Bible? No God!

Please take seriously these words from David Wells' Above All Earthly Pow'rs about the Bible as it relates to a church's or pastor's ministry philosophy.

"...the Word of God, read or preached, has the power to enter the innermost crevices of a person's being, to shine light in unwanted places, to explode the myths and deceits by which fallen life sustains itself, and to bring that person face to face with the eternal God" (8).

You might be asking, 'What does this have to do with ministry philosophy?' He goes on:

"This Word of God is the means by which God accomplishes his saving work in his people, and this is a work that no evangelist and no preacher can do" (9).

You got it yet? No? He then takes this insight about ministry philosophy and uses it to explain the superficiality of Christianity in the West with these penetrating words:

"This is why the dearth of serious, sustained biblical preaching in the Church today is a serious matter. When the Church loses the Word of God it loses the very means by which God does his work. In its absence, therefore, a script is being written, however unwittingly, for the Church's undoing, not in one cataclysmic moment, but in a slow, inexorable slide made up of piece by tiny piece of daily dereliction" (9).

Illustrating Truth

As seen in the sidebar, I am currently reading Reclaiming the Center to "bone-up" on my philosophical training.

In his chapter entitled "Truth Defined and Defended," Doug Groothuis offered this helpful illustration of the correspondence view/theory of truth:

"Noted epistemologist Alvin Goldman likens the relationship of beliefs to truth to betting on a horse race. Whether we bet, or on what horse we bet, is up to us. Who wins the race is not up to us. 'Once you form a belief...its 'success' or 'failure' is not up to you; that is up to the world, which in general is independent of you' [Alvin Goldman, Knowledge in a Social World, 20]. In other words, 'only the world confers truth and falsity' [Goldman 21]. A true statement is a 'descriptive success,' which means that it is faithful to reality" [Goldman 60] (66).

When witnessing it would've been nice to have an illustration like this to help people understand that just because they chose their own religion / spirituality, and happen to really like it or get some good benefits from it, those realities alone do not make it true.

Christianity is true if Jesus rose from the dead (1 Cor 15:12-20), if that event actually happened to an actual person in an actual Judean tomb at an actual point in history. Whether I bet on / choose to believe the resurrection or like it or get something out of it makes no difference as to whether or not the event took place, and therefore, as to whether or not it is true.

Truth is determined by the world outside of us. In this sense, the truth or falsity of Jesus' resurrection has nothing at all to do with us. If our beliefs / statements about what is real do not match what is actually real, our beliefs / statements are false and do nothing to what is actually real, actually true. 2 + 2 = 4 regardless of me.

Sadly, after much imbibing of postmodern epistemology, the correspondence view of truth is under serious attack in Christian circles by postevangelicals / emergent / postfundamentalist / postconservatives / younger evangelicals. Because of that, I'll end with this call to arms from Groothius:

"Whenever postconservative evangelicals depart from the correspondence view of truth--which is both logical and biblical--and thus sink into the postmodern swamps of subjectivism, pragmatism, or constructivism, they should be lovingly but firmly resisted. Nothing less than the integrity of our Christian witness is at stake" (79).

Jesus in Western Society

It is important to know the purpose / thesis of a book to give a context to what you're reading.

With that in mind, the purpose of David Wells' Above All Earthly Pow'rs is:

"...to be able to say more exactly how Christ, in whom divine majesty and human frailty are joined in one person, is to be heard, and is to be preached, in a postmodern, multiethnic, multireligious society" (7-8).

This purpose makes this book critically important because I think this issue is one of, if not the most, pressing concerns facing church leaders in the 21st century.

That is why I personally found this book to be so fascinating and penetrating that I read it twice and am blogging through it quite slowly now. I want to think more on this issue so if you know of anymore books that seek to accomplish a similar purpose, please list them in the comments.

Behold The Holy God (Ezek 36)

While reading Ezekiel today I was deeply struck with these words, and just how different they are from the therapeutic portrayal of God perpetrated on us by much of American Christianity. God says:

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight"'" (vv. 22-23).

After that, my next thought was: How do I profane the name of God? God, help me not to be marked by these words. Help me to see where I've profaned Your name among those I know, and how I can fix that in my own life as well as with them.

Getting Christianity Right

I have a very good friend who's told me many times that though he always believed in His existence, when God started to really work on him his response was "God, I'll do anything You want. I'll follow any religion. Just please don't make me a Christian."

When he elaborates on that he says that he had many misconceptions about what Christianity really was because of errors in content and because of bad examples of Christians in his life. As a result, God was fine, but he wanted nothing to do with Christ at all.

I think this is the idea behind these words from Augustine's Confessions (click here to read the quotes in context at chap. XI.18):

"...the things in the Church's books that appeared so absurd to us before do not appear so now, and may be otherwise and honestly interpreted. ... A great hope has risen up in us, because the Catholic faith does not teach what we thought it did, and vainly accused it of."

Before a person can reject Christianity they should have an accurate understanding of it.

Therefore, it is imperative that we take the time to study the Bible and sound doctrine so that our words do not give people reasons not to believe.

And, we should take the time to examine our lives, especially with the help of Scripture and other Christians, so that our actions aren't giving people reasons not to believe as well.

Grandpa Update

UPDATE: After 7 hours, he's out of the doctors and back home.

So far, he's taken the chemotherapy very well. He slept a lot during the process, ate some lunch and was laughing a little bit after it ended.

He's feeling fine, has a good amount of energy and is eating some more right now.

Thank you for your prayers. He has a pump attached to his pick line that is giving him a steady flow of chemotherapy medicine for the next 4 days.

He'll return to the doctor for a check up next Tuesday.

Praise the Lord for His goodness throughout this whole ordeal!

*******

If you think of it later this morning, please say a prayer for my grandpa between the hours of 8-11am PST.

He's starting his first round of chemotherapy for the stomach cancer that has spread to his liver and possibly his pancreas. He, and we, need all the prayer and advice and support we can get.

Thank you.

Being Clear About ESCR

Click here and read a short and very well-reasoned article by Greg Koukl on the moral logic undergirding the Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR) debate.

If you want your own thinking challenged and refined or you're wavering between both poles on the issue, this is a great place place to go.

Warning to Pastors (Ezek 34)

Pastors, please take heed, listen to, and beware of these words spoken to you by the prophet Ezekiel from God Himself:

The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them (vv. 2-10 ESV).

Notice, I counted six times in ten verses God making it very clear that we're not to marginalize these words because they are His, they come from Him.

God is indicting His shepherds for using His people, rather than serving them. Among other things, He is condemning the kind of professional attitude that has arisen in American Christianity where pastors use their congregations for their own personal gain and aggrandizement.

These are sobering, James 3:1 type words that I need to keep very close to my heart to let them dictate my life, relationships and ministry.

On the Road to Nowhere

David Wells is right, in his newest book Above All Earthly Pow'rs, when he writes:

"There is a long trail of contextualized theologies, written over the last half century, in which the external dimension virtually replaces the internal, cultural interests eclipse biblical norms, and the result has been the kind of compromise, trendiness, and manipulation which ends up promoting worldly agendas, be they political, social, ideological, or personal, in place of biblical truth" (7).

In order to look relevant and compassionate, the Western church has allowed a myriad of theories, ologies, osophies to flood its banks and wash away biblical teaching on just about every subject.

The quest for something new when consuming has crept into theological education so that the new insight, the new revelation, the new book, the new idea, the new understanding, the new doctrine is now better than then old.

Sadly, we've forgotten that our job is not innovation; it is proclamation.

"And somewhere in the making of each of its [theologies] the fatal step was taken to allow the culture to say what God's story should sound like rather than insisting that theology is not theology if it is not listening to God telling his own story in his own way. ... Theology stands or falls with the Word of God, for the Word precedes all theological words by creating, arousing, and challenging them." He goes on to say, "if theology wants to be something other than a response to the [biblical] Word...it will rapidly become empty, futile, and without meaning" (7).

This is the destination--empty, futile, without meaning--of the path that the Western church is currently traveling down. And the same can be said of any life, any ministry, any church, any university that walks the same path, regardless of the worldly measures of success we may look to to tell us we're OK.

College's Dirty Dozen

The Young America's Foundation has just published it's Dirty Dozen: America’s Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses.

If you're thinking about sending your kid(s) to college, or know someone who is, please take the time to read this article and pass it on to them.

Grandpa Update

Thank you all for your prayers on my grandpa's behalf. He gained 2 lbs. since last week (Hooray!!!), had a good report from the doctor about his blood work and is doing better than the doctor expected.

Thursday is the big day when he, or really we start chemotherapy. His appointment is at 8am (Pacific Standard Time) and should last around 2 hours. This is when he gets his big dose, followed by four smaller doses at home this week.

Thank you for your prayers. His energy is up. He's eating, walking around and for the past two days he's been sitting outside for an hour or so in the sun.

God has been so kind in saving my grandpa, seeing him through his surgery, strengthening his body and deepening his resolve.

Please continue to pray for his health, both physical and spiritual, and for us, especially my mom, as we help him through some very difficult days ahead. Any advice you might give would be a huge blessing and greatly appreciated.

Ministry as Usual?

More from David Wells' Above All Earthly Pow'rs:

"...the relation of Christ to non-Christian religions, as well as to these personally constructed spiritualities, is no longer a matter of theorizing from a safe distance but rather a matter of daily encounter in neighborhoods, in schools, at work, a the gas station, and at the supermarket" (5).

In other words, for some time now we've been unable to minister with the assumption that the people in our environments have the same basic worldview as we do.

Therefore, church leaders and pastors must take this new religious milieu into account when "doing church," which means well-thought out and well-prayed over training, as early as elementary school, in what the Bible teaches (doctrine) and why we believe it (apologetics).

If we treat ministry as (1) business as usual in "Christian America" or (2) if we market Christianity based on the preferences of religious consumers (e.g., the seeker and emergent movements), then I think Christianity in America will become the Christianity of Europe--weak, heretical and irrelevant.

Warning to Pastors (Ezek 33)

The authors of Scripture didn't have commands for bold or italics or underline so in order to emphasize something important they would repeat themselves.

In my readings in Ezekiel today God repeated Himself from chapter 3, and all Christians but especially pastors need to hear Him when He says:

"Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life" (33:7-9).

As a pastor, your job is to hear a message from God's Word and give the people that message. If you do not give them the warnings as well as the blessings of Scripture because you're afraid of coming off like a fundamentalist, or a fire and brimstone Puritan, or because you think you're being loving and encouraging, heed this warning from God through Ezekiel.

There will always be people who do not want to hear what God has to say:

"They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them" (33:31-32).

These kinds of people are not a neutral marketing segment for your gospel product. They rebelliously want God / spirituality on their terms not His. If you seek their approval as your highest goal, God will judge you for silencing Him.

Sin & What We Love

Augustine's Confessions are a masterful look into the life of one man through his incredible ability to describe his thoughts, his desires, his heart to God.

Notice (you can read quote in context here at chapter X.16) how he links temptation to sin with what his friend loves:

There was one matter, however, which appealed to his love of learning, in which he was very nearly led astray.

His friend had a love, a desire for learning that needed to be satisfied. Learning is a good thing. There is nothing wrong with learning.

However, it was this good thing that was used by his flesh to almost cause him to stumble, which would've ruined the integrity Augustine was describing previously.

Lesson: Be careful. Even good desires can be used as a motivation for sin. Watch out for this. Thanks again Augustine.

New Stem Cell Source?

Click here for the full story about Dr. Anthony Atala's (pictured above) promising and ethical new discovery:

Scientists reported Sunday they had found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that cushions babies [Not fetus; Yeah!] in the womb and produced a variety of tissue types from these cells—sidestepping the controversy over destroying embryos [Why not babies here too? Boo] for research.

Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University [These are backwoods, hick, fightin' fundy schools, right?] reported the stem cells they drew from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women hold much the same promise as embryonic stem cells. They reported they were able to extract the stem cells without harm to mother or fetus and turn their discovery into several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver and bone [So what! Destroy the embryos anyway! It's the compassionate thing to do!].

For those of you who still fall for the lack of distinction in the media between "stem cell research" (which no one really opposes) & "embryonic stem cell research" (the ethically problematic destruction of a fetus for it's stem cells) and also think ESCR should not be banned because it's so promising, please take a second and read this chart.

Concerned for the Church Silent

I just finished my second reading of David Wells' discernment-filled book Above All Earthly Pow'rs. Because I liked the material so much, and because the material was, at times, difficult for me to fully grasp, I decided that I'd blog through it here.

This first quote is from the introduction and concerns the silence the church has had in the face of the serious evils we're facing in our world today, and what that says about it's overall health:

"...what has become conspicuous by its scarcity, and not least in the evangelical corner of [the Church], is a spiritual gravitas, one which could match the depth of horrendous evil and address issues of such seriousness. Evangelicalism, now much absorbed by the arts and tricks of marketing, is simply not very serious anymore" (4).

It seems to me that one of the objectives of this book is to address the American Church's lighthearted, superficial nature. I hope examining these things will address these things in my own heart and in my ministry in the future.

Amazing Grace: The Movie

If you haven't heard about this movie or seen the trailer yet, please watch it.

The story of William Wilberforce, the great English parliament member who lead the fight the eventually ended slavery in the British Isles, is coming to theaters this February thanks to the people at Bristol Bay Productions.

Learn more by listening to Piper's biography on him here, and watch the preview (in the lower right hand corner) here.

Baby Got Book!?!

What is this video hoping to accomplish?

I think it's trying to encourage Christian females to read their Bibles. But, how is it trying to do that? By presenting it as attractive.

When someone is appealing to us with the draw "This is attractive" the center of that appeal is the self. It is appealing to the desire to be thought of as attractive--a self-centered goal--and not the desire to glorify God--both God-centered goals!

Will this really encourage Christian girls to read their Bibles, and Christian guys to want to date them? Can the world's methods of appealing to self-centered motivations really motivate Christian females living by a Book that teaches them to be God-centered?

Am I thinking too much? Am I being too serious? What's your take on this video?

Warnings to Pastors (Ezek 22)

In my daily reading of Ezekiel I was brought to these words:

"Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them" (v. 26).

God's things, especially God's Word, is holy. It is distinct from ALL other common or "profane" things.

There are vast movements within Christendom that make no distinction between God's holy Word and all the ologies and osophies and fads of mankind. They call for integration when God calls for distinction.

However, by making no distinction, these well-meaning but misled people are doing violence to God's word, which leads to disregard for God, then disobedience to God because He and His Word are being treated as common when He and His Word are anything but common.

This treating as common of God and His Word happens all the time. It was part of the reason for the rebuke of Psalm 50:21 "You thought I was just like you" when He and His Word are anything but.

Islam in the US Government

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch made these important comments about Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Mich.) being sworn in on Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an (read the whole post here):

In the Washington Post (thanks to Davida), Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts report breathlessly that Keith Ellison will be using Thomas Jefferson's own copy of the Qur'an for his swearing-in photo op.

This is allegedly a political masterstroke by Ellison, but it really just begs the question. Thomas Jefferson, obviously, was not a Muslim. In his famous statement on religious freedom he wrote about whether one's neighbor believed in one god or twelve "neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." But what no one is willing to discuss here is whether the Qur'an and Islam really fit into that framework. When I have mentioned that it sanctions lying to unbelievers (3:28 and 16:106, in the mainstream understanding of those verses by Islamic theologians and schools of jurisprudence; cf. Ibn Kathir and many others), people have responded that the Bible is full of nasty stuff as well. But people aren't swearing on the Bible because it is full of nasty stuff, or endorsing any of it that might actually be there. The idea of swearing on the Bible arises from Christian belief and is buttressed by Christian theology -- Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant -- that requires honesty and eschews all dishonesty as coming from the "Father of Lies." The permissions to be dishonest in the Qur'an are not mitigated by Islamic belief, tradition, and theology, but are in fact reinforced -- by Muhammad's statements that "war is deceit" and that lying is permissible in wartime, and more.

In short, to swear on the Bible is to affirm, among other things, that one is part of a tradition, and to swear on the Qur'an does not amount to an affirmation of the same tradition, no matter how much Glenn Beck or Ed Koch or anyone wishes it does or assumes it does. Islamic teachers daily use the Qur'an to establish principles that differ radically from those of Judeo-Christian tradition. These questions need to be discussed in a forthright and honest manner by Ellison and by the mainstream media, instead of being swept under the rug or condemned as bigotry.

Grandpa Update

We went to the doctor yesterday, and what an adventure in God's gracious providence it was.

We changed my grandpa's primary care because the doctor is 30 minutes away from us, and also because the doctor treated him for an ulcer for 2 to 3 years with no internal exams until October when he started loosing weight. Since September 2006, my grandpa has gone from 205 lbs to 165 on December 13th to 148 yesterday!

When his new primary care doctor heard this, he was outraged and worried. He immediately tried to get him in to see the oncologist next door, and he succeeded! Sadly, this oncologist didn't take my grandpa's insurance, but while we were waiting I found a magazine about how to care for someone with cancer called Caring4Cancer. This has a lot of good ideas we can use for his diet, a particularly difficult area with him right now.

We went from disappointment to happiness when his new primary told him he got him into see another oncologist two buildings over. When my mom got over to see him, she started to breakdown when they told her his appointment would be next week. The oncologist kindly saw my grandpa.

It turns out that this doctor, Robert A. Moss, M.D., was rated one of America's Top Physicians (as the magazine plaque said on the wall). He told my grandpa of the treatment options and gave him some perscrptions for his digestion and appetite, both of which aren't working well. My grandpa agreed to the chemotherapy, which may start late next week.

The amazing thing about all this: He wasn't taking anymore patients after noon because of the holiday. He told my mom later that this is the only day of the year his office is empty after noon. We just happened to walk into an empty office of one of America's Top Oncologists.

God, in His smiling and gracious providence, worked wonders yesterday. This is so encouraging. Please continue to pray for him, for us, for the medicines and for the doctors. My grandpa is taking medicines and pills and drinking teas to slow the cancer's spread. However, he is quite weak. He's not eating much because eating makes him feel nauseous. He is sweating a lot because the cancer has spread from his stomach to his liver. These are not good signs. My mom is worried because it seems he's not doing what he needs to do, as if he's giving in to the cancer. When I prayed with him tonight I asked him what he wanted me to pray for, and he said that he would pull out of this.

Sin as Medicine

In Augustine's Confessions (Book 6, paragraph 9), he makes this very insightful statement about how past sin can be used for future good in the heart and life of his friend Alypius:

"But this was all being stored up in his memory as medicine for the future."

The "this" is referring to Alypius' fall into temptation after he trusted in his own wit, ability and power to fight the sins of going to and enjoying the gladiatorial games (click here to read Augustine's recounting of Alypius' "this").

I did some Bible study on Proverb 11:2 today where the first line reads "When pride comes, then comes dishonor." Alypius' dishonor, his falling into sin and temptation--even before his watching and unbelieving friends, let alone his watching God--came as a result of his pride.

However, when we fall into sin Augustine tells us how we can use past sin, not to further condemn ourselves which is what we typically do, but to fight it. Used wisely, this sin could become, and Augustine was sure it would become, "medicine" to fight future infections of pride in Alypius' heart.

Think of your most recent sin. Got it? Now, picture yourself walking into the same situation again. I hate thinking of this, but its important. Augustine taught his friend and is teaching us 1600 years later that past sins can fight future sins. A fall in the past can keep us from falling in the future. Use past sins to fortify you against future sins, which over time works to kill sin in our hearts.

In a word from those funny Guinness bear commercials, "Brilliant!"

Grandpa Update

It's been awhile since I've blogged about my grandpa's fight against stomach cancer.

He's been gaining strength very slowly as he's spent much of his time recently watching football (his favorite). He's lost another 10 lbs. so that he's gone from 205 to 160 in 4 months. Now, he cannot eat much because his stomach is so small (25% of its original size), but even if he could eat, nothing tastes good. This is quite strange because ever since I was a child I marveled at never seeing him come across a food he didn't like.

With no stomach and all foods tasting bad, he just looses more and more weight, which keeps him from getting strength to fight. He is drinking a lot of tea (especially Essiac) and taking his vitamins regularly, which may explain why he sweats so much, but it does not explain his frequent back aches.

We're going to the doctor tomorrow, Tuesday, to find out what the next steps are for him and what we can do about his diet. He changed doctors after the debacle of the last two months, so now he'll be going to Hoag, which we hope will be a better situation for him.Any explanation and/or advice on any of these ailments would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, we're praying almost every night before he goes to bed--something I've only dreamed of for the past 10 years. My grandpa was a cop and court clerk for many years, so when he confessed some sins on Christmas Day, I told him "That's what Christmas is all about. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, He gets all your sin and is punished--getting what you deserve. When you trusted Jesus' work on your behalf, you get all His perfection and get what He deserves--heaven. When your case comes up, God the judge says 'Thrown out for lack of evidence,'" to which he smiled really big.

So, please keep praying for his physical and spiritual health in the new year. Thank you.