Head-dibs

Jonathan Edwards: A Missionary?  PhD. Candidate Jonathan Gibson takes a closer look at the famed preachers' service in Stockbridge. Paul Tripp examines anger, the beautiful characteristic of God . How about some Biblical Roundup for the Root of Bitterness? Paul Tautges mixes up a batch of " 15 Ways To Kill Bitterness ." The Necessity of Sleep for Proper Recovery. Here's a great question: Why Do We Love C.S. Lewis and Hate Rob Bell?

Part of my daily routine is simple: check the news. I open my browser, select my news source and skim the headlines--I like to be informed by my local news source that I can trust (morning news, "Drive time" news, mid-day news, evening news and late night news). News can be breaking, hard, soft, canned, managed, slanted, spot or straight. News categories include general, national, science/tech, entertainment, environmental, political, religion, digestive, organic, earth-friendly, pregnancy, nutrition, diabetes . . . Our choices are no longer relegated to the newspaper or newsletters because we can get it via tv, internet, cell phone and all variations in between. Remember when we were young and thought "good news/bad news" were our only choices? What if we gave bad news in a good way . . . ? I like to be informed, but then what? I don't know what to do with this information. I really can't do anything about what I read, can I? Neil Postman wrote: "Our p...

"The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either: 1. All the sins of all men; 2. All the sins of some men; or, 3. Some of the sins of all men. In which case it must be said: a. That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so none are saved; b. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth; c. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins? Your answer: because of unbelief. I ask, is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!" (Dr. John Owen, 1616-1683)

"From heaven’s perspective, those who break God’s Law are vile and worthy of all loathing. They are a wretched lot, justly exposed to divine vengeance, and rightly devoted to eternal destruction. It is not an exaggeration to say that the last thing that the accursed sinner should and will hear when he takes his first step into hell is all of creation standing to its feet and applauding God because He has rid the earth of him. Such is the vileness of those who break God’s law, and such is the disdain of the holy towards the unholy. Yet, the Gospel teaches us that, 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree."’ Christ became what we were in order to redeem us from what we deserved." Paul Washer, on " The Cross of Christ ."

Isaiah 6:3 ; Revelation 1:8 ; Isaiah 43:25 ; 1 John 3:18-22 ; James 4:13-16 ; Micah 4:2 The Lord our God is enthroned on High, and we live in His world unstunned by His glory. The angels in God’s presence don’t dare to look or be uncovered in His sight; yet they dare not look at anything but Him nor do anything that is not pleasing to Him. They dare not say anything beyond calling out who He is. They are not merely overcome with astonishment, but are mobilized by the fear of who He is. Men live, move and have their being without guilt or shame, uncovered with high-handed sin in His sight. There is no fear of God before our eyes. If we did fear Him, He would receive much higher praise, louder and longer praise by all we say and do. “ Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had every imag...

Jury Duty seems to liven life up a bit for law-abiding citizens. This is a "must read" from Ray Comfort's blog: "I was called to jury duty in Compton, California, the city that has been called "the murder capital of America." As I sat with 44 other people in the jury selection process, the judge asked the prospective jurors in the jury box if they would give as much credence to the testimony of a gang member as they would to the testimony of an officer of the law. I looked across at the two gang members who were on trial for the murder of an Hispanic “human being,” as the judge had put it. They looked nice enough, in their plush suits and ties. I imagined them in their baggies, with their long socks and hats to the side, holding their guns the way gangs do. The judge also asked the prospective jurors if they would be prejudice against anyone who pleaded the Fifth Amendment, and didn’t testify on their own behalf. The next day I was called to the jury box. ...

“When I have seen you preparing for a storm, and reefing your sails to guard against it; how have I wished that you and I were as careful to avoid that storm of God's wrath, which will certainly, without repentance, quickly overtake us? When I have observed you catch at ever fair gale, how I secretly cried, O that we were as careful to know the things that belong to our peace, before they are forever hid from our eyes! And when I have taken notice, how steadily you eyed your compass in order to steer aright, how have I wished, that we as steadily eyed the word of God, which alone can preserve us from ‘making shipwreck of faith, and a good conscience!’ In short, there is scarce anything you do, which has not been a lesson of instruction to me; and, therefore, it would me ungrateful in me, did I not take this opportunity of exhorting you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be as wise in the things which concern you soul, as I have observed you to be in the affairs belonging to y...

How the Cross of Christ Corresponds to and Conquers Satan’s Work. by John Piper Satan’s work is not the chief peril dealt with in the death of Christ. God’s wrath is. God is opposed to us in his righteous wrath, and he is for us in his love. Therefore, in his great love, he sends his Son to endure his own wrath against us. In this way, his righteousness is upheld and his love is expressed. His wrath and curse and condemnation of our sin are endured for us by another—a substitute, Jesus Christ. Here are some of the texts that teach this: (read the rest here ).