Head-dibs

“The Golden Compass” movie is due to be released on or about December 7, 2007. This release is just in time for parents to take their kids to the movies to be inundated with yet another fantasy-adventure just before Christmas, which means book sales will skyrocket for that gift-giving time of year. Look interesting? Harry Potter is a nursery-school compared to this. Folks, this movie is dangerous, as are the books associated therewith. The author is Phillip Pullman, a devout atheist, an unashamed outspoken hater of God. Through his writing, Pullman takes his punches out on C.S. Lewis and Christianity. Here are a few highlights of the story: 1) In Pullman’s world, people are accompanied by animal spirits, who he calls “daemons” and everyone becomes a ghost at death. No daemon = no soul. 2) The “alethiometer” (“alethia” in Greek means “truth”) is a Golden Compass with Ziodiac-type markings inside. “What is truth?” is the question at the heart of the story. Truth is measured by the operat...

“And I beg the little band of would-be missionaries (and I have the honour to call some of you by this name for the first time) to remember that though you give your bodies to be burned, and have not Love, it profits nothing--nothing! You can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the Love of God upon your own character. That is the universal language. It will take you years to speak in Chinese, or in the dialects of India. From the day you land, that language of Love, understood by all, will be pouring forth its unconscious eloquence. It is the man who is the missionary, it is not his words. His character is his message.” “Take into your new sphere of labour, where you also mean to lay down your life, that simple charm [of Love], and your lifework must succeed. You can take nothing greater, you need take nothing less. It is not worth-while going if you take anything less. You may take every accomplishment; you may be braced for every sacrifice; bu...

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“We are not here to play, to dream, to drift; we have hard work to do, and loads to lift. Shun not the struggle; face it—’tis God’s gift.” (Maltbie D. Babcock) “Followers of Christ are also His soldiers—called to do battle with the forces of Satan and evil. Victories are never won while resting in the barracks.” [ 1] Last Friday we had a Gideon’s Army go down to Five Points, 12 as opposed to the usual 20 or so. I want to highlight the fact that what I report here are primarily conversations and experiences I have with people. I cannot report for or on behalf of the entire group—I wish I could, but can’t. So you just get one set of stories out of a team’s worth. This was a strange week. First, it was the last Friday before the end of the State Fair, so many people were there instead of at party-central. This includes those who normally go down evangelistic purposes. Some of our team had volunteered to work the WMHK booth, so they were at the Fair doing face-painting and sharing the go...

Here are two scenarios. The first is: You are standing by the edge of a swimming pool on a hot summer's day. Your flesh is hot; the water's cold. It's not going to be pleasant when you first hit the water. The longer you hesitate, the harder it becomes. Your friends call out, "The water's fine. Come on. You can do it. Just dive in!" Now here's the second scenario: You are hesitating by the water's edge. Suddenly you see your beloved four-year-old sink beneath the water in front of you. He's drowning! Do you still think about the cold water? No! Not for a second. Every day 150,000 people sink into the cold waters of death. Do you need to be coaxed to dive in to reach them before they pass into eternity? There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time . From: Way of the Master Minute .

Several times in my life I've worked in the retail grocery business,and if there is one thing I hated it was inventory. You had to gothrough out the store counting and recording every single piece ofmerchandise. Talk about the most boring, humdrum, mind-numbing existenceon the face of the earth. When you got all done, you had one figure ofwhat the inventory was worth. All that work that could be reduced to asingle figure written in a very small space. The Lord Jesus also did an inventory, but his was spiritual.After He finished, He revealed the contents of the human heart, and readwhat He found. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evilthoughts, adulteries, fornications, murder..." (Mark 7:21). It was not a pretty picture. All the parts of that heart could be reduced to asingle word--sinner! This is the load that each of us carries aroundevery day of our lives. No wonder we trip and fall into sin from time totime. No wonder we do the things ...

Watch this video: Some facts about this story ( Team Pyro did all the work on this): "1) Johnny MacArthur [the field-goal kicker] is John MacArthur's eldest grandson. He's a high-school senior this year and a scratch golfer with a full-ride golf scholarship to Pepperdine next year; 2) Johnny is a senior, playing football for the first time in his high-school career. Of course, many well-meaning friends and conservative grown-ups advised him not to go out for football because of the risk of an injury that could jeopardize his scholarship. He tried out and made the team anyway; 3) Hart and Canyon High Schools have one of the fiercest rivalries ever in US high-school football. Johnny plays for Hart High School. Canyon was last year's state champ in football. (Canyon's stadium is down the hill from my back yard. I hear their marching band practicing in the mornings. Hart, across the valley, is this community's oldest high school, named for William S. Hart, an earl...

I'll explain what the title means in a minute. This has been Fall Break, and what a weekend it has been! Thursday Night: I took my boys to go see Team Impact at a local church. This is a group of body-builders who put on an amazing show of strength (breaking blocks of concrete, blocks of ice, blocks on concrete on fire, power-lifting telephone poles on fire, driving nails with bare hands, ripping phone books, and my personal favorite—rolling up frying pans into “burritos” with bare hands . . . and much more) and preaching the gospel. The reason why I took my boys to see this is to hear these men 1) put sports and body care in proper perspective. Many of these guys have worked out with and competed against big names, but walked away from the fame and glory of the body for 2) preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their testimonies are found on the webpage linked above. We went back again Sunday night. Friday Night: Went to the State Fair. For some reason we got in less displays and m...

"Atheists Aren't Bad People; They Just Have a Bad Reputation" By Patrick Smith October 15, 2007 Many people cringe when they hear the word, "atheist." Atheists are assumed to be all-around bad people, and are sometimes even confused for devil worshipers. That is simply not the case. Free thinkers tend to be educated people who are very ethical in work and they tend to take morality very seriously, yet they are among the most discriminated-against belief group in existence. For those atheists who need some guidance in being a good person, along with anyone else who may wish to use this how-to, I offer you “How To Be A Good Atheist.” Read the rest here (in case you were wondering) . . .

Cartoon by Dave Walker . Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons . ht: Tim Challies

What do you think and feel about the cross of Christ? You live in a Christian land. You probably attend the worship of a Christian Church. You have perhaps been baptized in the name of Christ. You profess and call yourself a Christian. All this is well. It is more than can be said of millions in the world. But all this is no answer to my question, "What do you think and feel about the cross of Christ?" I want to tell you what the greatest Christian that ever lived thought of the cross of Christ. He has written down his opinion. He has given his judgment in words that cannot be mistaken. The man I mean is the Apostle Paul. The place where you will find his opinion, is in the letter which the Holy Ghost inspired him to write to the Galatians. And the words in which his judgment is set down, are these, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." How what did Paul mean by saying this? He meant to declare strongly, that he trusted in not...

“I often talk about missions and evangelism in terms of ‘winning the world to Christ,’ as do many other Christians. Does that mean that I believe everyone in the world will be won to Christ? No. It simply means that I recognize the universal implications of the gospel. The cross is to be taken to every person everywhere because every person is responsible for accepting its message or rejecting it.” Michael Horton, “ Putting Amazing Back Into Grace .”

The towering over-tattooed, baseball-capped, long-haired, bristle-chinned, mildly-pierced biker dude glared at me as he turned and caught me contemplating the above-mentioned declaration calligraphed across the back of his black tee-shirt. Honestly, I was too scared to ask his thoughts about the statement; however, I could not help but think how well this phrase summed up the events of the previous night. Our Five Points Friday was unusual this week, thanks to the City of Columbia. For the past few years, the Five Points area has been the hubbub of construction, and the city decided to mark the end of the construction by throwing a party. Since the Five Points area forms a star configuration, two parts were blocked off for the celebration. Parades, live music, indie-films, much beer and sundry forms of street entertainment and various booths provided the are for the evening. The celebration got underway at 5:00. By the time we got to Five Points, the celebration was in the final stages...

"A missionary was flying over Bombay, India, and saw the massive crowds crawling like ants beneath him. At first he wanted to turn back. 'Look at all those people!' he gasped. 'I won’t even make a dent.' Then he remembered that God had not called him to save India, nor to save anyone in India, but that He had called him to preach the gospel of Christ in India to all who would listen; God would do the saving. That thought, the missionary said, got him through the frustration and depair so he could be an unencumbered divine instrument." Horton, Michael. Putting Amazing Back Into Grace .

Give us a watchword for the hour, A thrilling word, a word of power; A battle cry, a flaming breath, That calls to conquest or to death; A word to rouse the church from rest, To heed its Master's high behest, The call is given, Ye hosts arise; Our watchword is Evangelize! The glad Evangel now proclaim, Through all the earth in Jesus' name, This word is ringing through the skies, Evangelize! Evangelize! To dying men, a fallen race, Make known the gift of Gospel Grace; The world that now in darkness lies, Evangelize! Evangelize! (unknown source)