From WORLD Magazine’s website:

“To make a (way too long) story short, Gilbert (who is actually a great writer), spent months on the bathroom floor crying out to an ambiguous god/being/universe/Jiminy Cricket, begging for communion. She decides, after one particularly emotional episode, to take a year off to find him/her. She just wants God, she says, more and more of Him. Filled up and flowing over. The rub, being, of course, that she isn’t looking for God as much as she’s trying to create Him from scratch:

“I think you have every right to cherry pick when it comes to moving your spirit and finding peace in God. I think you are free to search for any metaphor whatsoever which will take you across the worldly divide whenever you need to be transported or comforted. . . . If humanity never evolved in its exploration of the divine, a lot of us would still be worshiping golden, Egyptian statues of cats. And this evolution of religious thinking does involve a fair amount of cherry-picking. . . . That’s me in the corner, in other words. That’s me in the spotlight. Choosing my religion.”

“Sounds more like a kid in a Build-a-Bear store than a spiritual quest—but with more fluff.”

Me: Save $10 and skip the movie. Save $20 and skip the book. Read the rest of the review here.

From C.S. Lewis’ The Scretape Letters:

“The game is to have them running about with fire extinguishers whenever there is a flood, and all crowding to that side of the boat which is already nearly gunwale under… Cruel ages are put on their guard against Sentimentality, feckless and idle ones against Respectability, lecherous ones against Puritanism; and whenever all men are really hastening to be slaves or tyrants we make Liberalism the prime bogey.”

-Demon “Screwtape” to his understudy “Wormwood”

“It is a strange thing that if the old evangelistic doctrines should appear for one moment to be beaten in debate, they always conquer in results.”

Charles Spurgeon

All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.

C.S. Lewis

“The Christian idea of marriage is based on Christ’s words that a man and wife are to be regarded as a single organism–He was not expressing a sentiment but stating a fact, just as one if stating a fact when one says that a lock and its key are one mechanism, or that a violin and a bow are one musical instrument. The inventor of the human machine was telling us that its two halves, the male and the female, were made to be combined together in pairs, not simply on the sexual level, but totally combined.”

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

New York Times Magazine has a new piece that every pro-life person ought to read. Called ‘The New Abortion Providers‘, the piece shows has the medical community has silently trained a new general of doctors to provide abortions outside the context of abortion clinics, as part of their regular medical practices.

Below are pictures of two doctors, “Dr. Rachael Phelps (left), an alumna of the Family Planning Fellowship. Dr. Emily Godfrey (right), whose specialty is family medicine, with a patient undergoing a routine checkup.” Hardly the monstrous-looking depictions of abortion-providers we heard of in the 80s and 90s.

While the pro-life movement celebrates the closing of abortion clinics–and we should–the pro-choice movement, says the NY Times piece, feels just fine about the trend.

It’s a must read piece to understand the new landscape of the pro-life struggle in America. And it makes me all the more thankful for pro-life doctors who stay true to the pledge to “do no harm.”

Gregory Koukl of Stand to Reason offers an informed, yet brief, synopsis of a important third way between Calvinism and Arminianism: Molinism.

The other month, we lauded Steve Jobs for taking a stand against pornography. Today, I tip my hat to Google for this step in the right direction:

“When you’re searching on Google, we think you should have the choice to keep adult content out of your search results. That’s why we developed SafeSearch, a feature that lets you filter sexually explicit web sites and images from your search results. While no filter is 100% accurate, SafeSearch helps you avoid content you may prefer not to see or would rather your children did not stumble across. We think it works pretty well, but we’re always looking for ways to improve the feature.”

Headline: ‘Oklahoma’s abortion law stays blocked for now’

“Oklahoma County District Judge Noma Gurich agreed to a temporary injunction Monday preventing enforcement of the state’s new abortion law.” Read more.

In case it’s not obvious, we think this is a bad decision for numerous reasons and that life is on the line.

In a new interview with Christianity Today, Dr. James Dobson “explains his ideas for raising daughters” and his new release, Bringing Up Girls.

“No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

-attributed to Edmund Burke

In his June 18 Presidential Proclamation of Father’s Day, President Obama had this to say in part:

Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step father, a grandfather, or caring guardian. [emphasis added]

Do you think Mr. Obama, in praising “two fathers” refers to a situation of same-sex partners, or the late 80′s situation comedy with Paul Reiser, “My Two Dads“?

Our rapid moral decline in America, I’m afraid, leaves us only to guess.

“About 80 unborn babies conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) are eliminated by abortion each year in Great Britain, according to a new report.”

Read more here.

‘Messengers’ to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando have “passed seven resolutions moments ago, all near-unanimously or unanimously. Among them were resolutions emphasizing the centrality of the Gospel and supporting family worship time. Messengers also passed a resolution “On the Scandal of Southern Baptist Divorce” and “On the Gulf of Mexico Catastrophe.”

Read about it here.

“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.”

-Blaise Pascal

I wish to add my voice to “a conservative group that monitors the entertainment industry [now] applauding Apple CEO Steve Jobs for his pledge to keep porn applications off the iPhone.”

“Jobs took a stance against porn when the iPhone was released in 2007 and has reiterated that stance at least three times during the past month while also taking a dig at a competitor, Google’s Android phone.”

Read more here.

“I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare…If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us,… they are too small.  There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditures excludes them.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

From Oklahomans for Life’s email blast:

Urgent Need for Help:
Abortion-Reporting Bill Vetoed by Governor,
Please Ask Legislators to Override Veto

Governor Brad Henry today vetoed HB 3284, which provides for reporting of abortions and abortion complications to the Health Department.

Please send an email immediately which will reach pro-life Representatives and Senators, asking them to override the veto.

Your message to prolifelegislators@okforlife.org will reach members of the House and Senate who have consistently voted pro-life this session. Please thank them for their pro-life support and urge them to override the veto.

An appropriate message would be: Thank you for your pro-life support this session. Please override the veto of the Abortion Reporting bill.

With countless unborn children being killed across Oklahoma on a daily basis, requiring the abortion industry to report what they’re doing is a very small thing to ask.

One email to prolifelegislators@okforlife.org will reach the pro-life legislators who can override this pro-abortion veto. Please urge them to override the veto.

Thank you for being the voice of the voiceless unborn child.

Tony Lauinger
State Chairman

Christian Evangelical scholar and author Dr. Albert Mohler’s answer to this question might surprise you.

The piece linked to above was re-posted to his website on this, the 50th anniversary of “the Pill.”

Also check out this profound discussion between Dr. Mohler and author Randy Alcorn, “who agree that the Pill’s effects can be seen in a culture now far more relaxed in its approach to sex.” The two gentlemen “challenge the listening audience to ensure their thinking on this and every other technological advance is subjected to the Word of God.”

“A Christian street preacher in Britain will stand trial for telling a passerby — in earshot of a policewoman — that God views homosexuality as a sin.” Read the rest here.

Check out this headline and news story.

Nebraska First to Allow Women to Sue for Psychological Injury After Abortion

“Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry has signed three pro-life bills into law.”

“Henry, a Democrat, endorsed measures April 5 that prohibit sex-selection abortions, regulate the use of the abortion drug RU 486 and provide conscience protections for pro-life, health-care workers, according to The Daily Oklahoman.”

At Pilgrims Progress, we’ve been no stranger to holding the Governor’s feet to the fire on this issue, and it’s nice to read some positive national coverage here.

“I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.”

G.K. Chesterton

According to the Telegraph, conservative leader “David Cameron has pledged to review Britain’s abortion laws and stop assisted suicide in moves designed to place religious issues at the forefront of the Conservative election campaign.”

“The Conservative leader said that he would personally favour reducing the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20 or 22 weeks.”

Read the rest of the story here. While it’s not the ideal solution, Britain certainly seems to be getting closer to the ultimate goal than we in the United States.

Hat tip: JR

In January 2004, the Claremont Institute published an important piece on boys in America today. Called “Wimps & Barbarians: The Sons of Murphy Brown,” the piece explored the two basic pitfalls, two extremes young men fall into. Later that year, a companion piece, also by Terrance O. Moore, was published on the effects this is having on young women. Here is an excerpt from the piece, “Heather’s Compromise.”

Many young women today look upon the world of dating with anxiety, hopelessness, disappointment—even dread. They express disappointment with young men’s stubborn immaturity, with their own slim chances of finding love, and with the sad fact that whereas in the past, everyone expected women not to have sex before marriage, nowadays everyone, especially their boyfriends, expects that they will. And though they often don’t say so directly, many young women are disappointed by their parents’ advice or, more often, complete lack of it.

Young women have, of course, adjusted to the world around them. In the vernacular, they aren’t looking for Mr. Right but for Mr. Right Now. But looking for Mr. Right Now has taken an enormous toll on their lives and emotions. The decision to look, or settle, for Mr. Right Now might be described as Heather’s Compromise. Heather, today’s young woman, is tempted continually to compromise her ultimate happiness for the momentary attention of an undependable young male on his terms.

Read the rest here. For any parent, these pieces are a must-read.

The blood of Jesus Christ has great power! There is perhaps not a phrase in the Bible that is so full of secret truth as is “The blood of Jesus.” It is the secret of His incarnation, when Jesus took on flesh and blood; the secret of His obedience unto death, when He gave His life at the cross of Calvary; the secret of His love that went beyond all understanding when He bought us with His blood; the secret of the enemy and the secret of our eternal salvation.

Corrie Ten Boom

¹ Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me.

² In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

⁴ And whither I go, ye know the way.

⁵ Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; how know we the way?

⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.

–Jesus Christ as quoted in the Gospel of John, chapter 14

It’s Friday, and for many families that means a run to the local movie rental store. With Blockbuster promoting ad nauseum the new Twilight saga DVD release, New Moon, it’s past time for me to post a thoughtful critique from The Christian Research Journal of the series for Christians to consider, especially ones with teen friends and family attracted to the novels and movies.

Read the article here.  It says in part:

“The Twilight love saga, then, may be the ultimate female coming-of-age fantasy that our biblically illiterate culture can offer, and, as such, this captivating story evokes dangerlously false expectations in young women that no man could ever satisfy. In fact, given that female sexuality is quite naturally rational, far more so than young male sexuality, the comparison that comes to mind is that Twilight is to female sexuality what pornography is to male sexuality.”

Christian author and spokeswoman Joni Eareckson Tada offers two non-negotiables in the health care debate in this sage piece. It begins:

“A few years ago, I helped write a book, How to Be a Christian in a Brave New World, about the bioethical challenges in the 21st century. Today, one of our foremost ethical challenges is how to accomplish health care reform in a way that respects most Americans’ traditional religious values.

“As a quadriplegic for the past 43 years, I have had more than my fair share of doctors’ visits and medical treatments. I know the difference between good care and bad care, and I can tell when a physician has my best interests at heart. I am thankful that, for the most part, my doctors have always treated me as the individual I am rather than just another patient in a wheelchair.

“For these reasons — my faith and my experience with medical care — I am very concerned about two specific items that currently exist in proposed health care legislation:
– Federal funding of abortions
– Rationing of care.”

I think she is spot on in this and the rest of her piece, which you read here at a link I found on Christianity Today‘s main website.

Her book, How to Be a Christian in a Brave New World, by the way, is one of the clearest, most concise ethical guides for Christians I have ever read. It covers hot topics like abortion, cloning, birth control, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, and uses the lens of the Christian view of the world to guide the reader. I highly recommend it, as well as any of her writings.

“ The following is a primer on abortion laws in American history:

American Colonies
U.S. adopts English Common Law, which forbade abortion. The procedure was ruled a misdemeanor if performed prior to quickening (feeling life) and a felony if performed after quickening.

Early 1800s
Discovery that life begins at fertilization and not when the mother ‘felt life.’
1860 Eight-five percent of the then-present U.S. states had laws that made all abortions a felony.

1869
British Parliament passes the Offenses Against the Persons Act, making all abortions a felony.

1967
Colorado and California legalize abortion.

June 1970
New York becomes the 16th state to allow abortion by passing the first Abortion on Demand Law, which legalized a 24-week limit. Other states’ laws were very restrictive, allowing abortion only in instances of rape, incest, danger to mother and suspected fetal handicap.

Jan. 22, 1973
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down all state abortion laws and legalizes abortion in all 50 states for the full nine months of pregnancy in the Roe v. Wade decision. The right to abortion falls under the right to privacy, which the court deemed “broad enough to encompass a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.” Late-term abortions need the approval of a licensed physician to judge the procedure necessary to protect the mother’s health.

Read the rest of this entry »

In an interview with USAToday, author Charles Murray says too many people go to college today. Read the interview here.

From Act I Scene II of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare:

Soothsayer
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.

“God and Tea,” a new piece posted on The American Conservative blog discusses how there is a rising tension between social conservatives and libertarians.

During the 2008 Presidential primary season there was a visible tension between Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Since then, Huckabee has gone on to attack Congressman Paul on occasion, and criticize CPAC for becoming too libertarian. Now evangelical leaders are expressing their unease with the libertarian leanings of the Tea Party Movement.

Read the full article here. I tend to think Fusionism died along with President Reagan. Now, not only do I not see how we can all get along, I don’t see why we would.

According to The Economist: “Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising.”

Blogging about the story, Southern Baptist’s Dr. Al Mohler states, “In other words, even as the spread of ultrasound technology has greatly aided the pro-life movement by making the humanity of the unborn baby visible and undeniable, among those determined to give birth only to baby boys, in millions of cases the same technology has meant a death warrant for a baby girl in the womb.”

Read the rest here.

One of my favorite public intellectuals, Dr. Allan Carlson, does it again with this masterpiece:

Eighteen months of severe recession have brought to the surface old truths that many chose to forget when times seemed to be good: the business cycle has not been eliminated; finance capitalism is by its nature unstable; politically-connected corporations commonly escape market discipline; and there is nothing conservative about the “creative destruction” of a capitalist economy.

Indeed, a curious aspect of political labeling in America has been the conflation of the word “conservative” with the interests of the great corporations. The problem is an old one. As one commentator noted in the mid 1930’s, the label “conservative” had then been thoroughly “discredited,” twisted by the “apostles of plutocracy” into a defense of “gamblers and promoters.”

Read more about third ways and a family-centered economy here.

Hat tip: JR

Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view.

-William F. Buckley, Jr.

According to this new analysis from the Southern Baptist’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the President’s health care plan advances abortion, in that:

• funding goes to Planned Parenthood;
• subsidies go toward insurance plans that cover elective abortions; and
• there is no language in the bill that speaks to barring federal funding of elective abortions.

This even after the Stupak amendment had passed and made clear the will of Congress. This is an absolute outrage!

“No man is justified in doing evil on the grounds of expediency.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

Bearing ourselves humbly before God … we await undismayed the impending assault … be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parlay; we may show mercy – we shall ask for none.

–Sir Winston Churchill, BBC Broadcast, London, July 14, 1940

Not V-Day. Not even plain Valentine’s Day.

I hope everyone had a happy Saint Valentine’s Day!

This is not the best writing on his life, but read about Valentinus: priest, bishop, martyr, true Christian saint.

“I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.”

- Abraham Lincoln

From ChristianityToday.com:

“The great preacher and founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley (1703-1791), was once approached by a man who came to him in the grip of unbelief. ‘All is dark; my thoughts are lost,’ the man said to Wesley, ‘but I hear that you preach to a great number of people every night and morning. Pray, what would you do with them? Whither would you lead them? What religion do you preach? What is it good for?’ Wesley gave this answer to those questions:

You ask, what would I do with them? I would make them virtuous and happy, easy in themselves, and useful to others. Whither would I lead them? To heaven, to God the judge, the lover of all, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant. What religion do I preach? The religion of love. The law of kindness brought to light by the gospel. What is this good for? To make all who receive it enjoy God and themselves, to make them like God, lovers of all, contented in their lives, and crying out at their death, in calm assurance, “O grave where is thy victory! Thanks be to God, who giveth me victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Oklahomans have an opportunity to express their belief in the sanctity of human life to their legislators during the 19th Annual Rose Day February 3 at the State Capitol.

“Rose distribution at 10:30 a.m. and rally begins at 11:45 a.m.”

The Capitol never has such a pleasing aroma as today. Read more here: http://www.bgco.org/5599?sct=roseday

I hope to see many of you there.

“The uproar over Tim Tebow’s Super Bowl ad with his mother, who is expected to talk about how she ignored medical advice to have an abortion when she had complications during her pregnancy, shows the underlying hypocrisy in the so-called abortion ‘debate’: There can be no debate, no conversation at all.

“A simple ad with the theme ‘Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life’ has now been deemed by the National Organization for Women ‘extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.’” Read the rest here.

So let’s see: GoDaddy’s SuperBowl ads each year don’t create a reaction from radical feminists, but the pro-life Tim Tebow ad is a bother. Can’t remember who first pointed out to me this contradiction, but it’s true.

Hat tip: JR

“All good moral philosophy is but the handmaid to religion.”

-Francis Bacon

Byron White was the senior dissenting justice in Roe v. Wade

As you may be aware, today marks the thirty-seventh anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the “landmark case decided by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion.” It remains “one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.”

I have long maintained that the solutions to this moral outrage created by men in black robes must include legislative and cultural reform.

Whereas a good deal of damage can be done through politics, great men like William Wilberforce understood that to overcome evil with good, more than laws must be changed (though America’s liberal abortion laws must be changed indeed).

To that end, I present actions you can do as an individual to ACT pro-life, not just identify yourself as pro-life (items quoted from “52 Simple Things You can Do to Be Pro-Life,” by Anne Pierson):

[ ] wear the “feet pin,” the universal symbol for life

[ ] march in a parade for life

[ ] babysit for a single mother

[ ] write a letter to the editor

[ ] give financially to crisis pregnancy centers

[ ] volunteer your time for a crisis pregnancy center

[ ] hold a baby shower for a crisis pregnancy center; and

[ ] most importantly pray for an end to abortion (surgical and chemical) in America and abroad.

May the Lord God give us help and mercy.

From equip.org:

“Yoga Day USA is January 23 – this Saturday.  Yoga teachers around the country will be holding free sessions in yoga studios, fitness clubs, and even churches to spread their message.  As Christians, how should we respond?  Is yoga compatible with Christianity? Aren’t Christians called to meditate on scripture?  How is that different from yoga meditation?

“Hear the answers to these and more questions on [The Bible Answer Man program on] your local station or tune in at 6PM ET today on our website at www.equip.org! You can join the conversation by calling 888-ASK-HANK (275-4265).”

I predict (and oh, I hope I’m wrong) that Democrat Martha Coakley will barely win today. I also tend to think even if Brown can pull off the upset, the premature gloating and celebrating on the right will backfire.

Don’t count your Senate seats before they hatch, to borrow a phrase.

UPDATE: You know, sometimes it’s enjoyable to be so wrong. Long live the Grand New Party!

“Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.”

Robert E. Lee

“There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great.”

-G.K. Chesterton

“OKLAHOMA CITY (January 7, 2010) – Working to reduce Oklahoma’s high divorce rate, state Rep. Sally Kern has filed legislation to refine state law to encourage married couples with children to work through their problems.”

Read more here.

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

-G.K. Chesterton

hat tip: JR

Here are two memorable quotations from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters:

• My dear Wormwood,
  I note what you say about guiding your patient’s reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naive? It sounds as if you suppose that argument was the way to keep him out of the enemy’s clutches. That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries earlier.

• Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.

10. A Christmas Story (so many classic lines)

9. Frosty the Snowman (brings happiness even thinking about it)

8. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (lovin’ the song)

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon, not the Jim Carey)

6. Miracle on 34th Street (the black and white version, of course)

5. Ernest Saves Christmas (admit it, you like this one too)

Read the rest of this entry »

“The only thing inexpensive about Massachusetts’s health-care bill is that there you can get a $50 abortion.”

-Mike Huckabee, addressing social conservatives in September 2009

My criteria include:

a) focus on the Christ Child and all His coming means;

b) whether it has stood the test of time (i.e. newer songs have the burden of proof; and

c) musical quality (though I realize many older hymns were later put to other tunes).

But first, honorable mentions include: Hallelujah! Chorus (I was recently told this was actually part of the Easter, not Christmas, portion of Handel’s Messiah); O Come All Ye Faithful, and Mary Did You Know?

The top five are:

5. What Child Is This? (I love the composer’s answer to his own question)

4. Away in a Manger (Children love this song and for good reason)

3. Silent Night (Is there any more serene song that this?)

2. O Holy Night (enough said)

Read the rest of this entry »

Just finished listening to The Screwtape Letters on audio CD. If you are a Christian and you’ve not read C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece, do yourself a major favor and pick it up from the library.

“The Screwtape Letters is a Christian apologetics novel written in epistolary style by C. S. Lewis, first published in book form in 1942. The story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior tempter named Wormwood, so as to advise him on methods of securing the damnation of a British man, known only as ‘the Patient’.”

One of my favorite lines from Screwtape, “Prosperity has a way of knitting a man to the world. He has thoughts of him finding his place in the world when actually; the world is finding its place in him.”

OK, I’ll admit it. I have not read any of the books in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, nor have I seen the popular film. As a general rule, I do not comment on works I have not read or seen.

Yet I am aware of countless teens (and even grown, Christian women) who are swooning over the works, therefore I felt compelled to research whether its runaway popularity is a positive development.

A paraphrase summary I found of the film goes something like this: Seventeen-year-old Bella falls for Edward, who is charming, mysterious, powerful, and dangerous but wise beyond his years and, ultimately, a gentleman. The paragon of self-control Edward will not allow them to have premarital sex. The catch is Edward is a vampire.

The abstinence seems to be why many Christian reviewers have heaped praise on the books and movie. I have found two reviews, however, from sources I trust, The Christian Research Journal and WORLD magazine, who think differently.

In CRJ’s review [not available online] entitled, “The Twilight Saga: A Classic Romance Too Mature for Teens,” Stephen Ross takes a fair and balanced look at the series. His review crescendos with this stinging statement: “The Twilight love saga, then, may be the ultimate female coming-of-age fantasy that our biblically illiterate culture can offer, and, as such, this captivating story evokes dangerlously false expectations in young women that no man could ever satisfy. In fact, given that female sexuality is quite naturally rational, far more so than young male sexuality, the comparison that comes to mind is that Twilight is to female sexuality what pornography is to male sexuality.”

WORLD’s review, written from a woman’s perspective, is no kinder. Read the rest of this entry »

However you disguise it, this thing does not change:
The perpetual struggle of Good and Evil.

-T.S. Eliott

You may have read about the push to encourage OU fans not to sing “… and the home of the SOONERS!” instead of the proper ending of the National Anthem. Here is the actual story about the controversy in The Oklahoman.

I normally don’t like to stop to kick every barking dog, but this issue requires a stand. You can count me with David Boren and the fans who want this phenomenon to stop because:

1) It’s silly copy-cat-ism at its worst. The Atlanta Braves started this years ago (which makes more sense as they are the Braves, by the way, and only add an ‘S’ on the end) so it’s not even original to us;

2) There’s something unpatriotic about messing with our national anthem, and we Okies are the first ones to get upset when someone tinkers with the words of the pledge of allegiance. Why does this not upset us?;

3) The so-called tradition is brand-new. It did not begin until a decade ago; and

4) Finally, the fans who do it subconsciously realize it’s inappropriate. How do I know? Because during the ballgame directly following 9/11, the entire stadium, I vividly recall, sang as one “… and the home of the brave.”

Let’s keep celebrating America the home of the brave, fellow Sooners!

“I am third.”

-Gale Sayers, former professional football player (the idea being: God is first, others are second, and “I am third.”)

“If religion be false, it is the basest imposition under heaven; but if the religion of Christ be true, it is the most solemn truth that ever was known! It is not a thing that a man dares to trifle with if it be true, for it is at his soul’s peril to make a jest of it. If it be not true it is detestable, but if it be true it deserves all a man’s faculties to consider it, and all his powers to obey it.”

-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

-Anne Bradstreet, 17th Century Puritan and considered the first notable American poet

You likely heard about  the election results in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. Here is a story from the New York Times about a ballot issue in Maine:

In a stinging setback for the national gay-rights movement, Maine voters narrowly decided to repeal the state’s new law allowing same-sex marriage. …

With the repeal of the same-sex marriage law, Maine became the 31st state to reject same-sex marriage at the ballot box. Five other states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire and Vermont — have legalized same-sex marriage, but only through court rulings and legislative action.

Read the rest here.

Me: I agree with Pastor Rick Warren that rampant divorce threatens the future of marriage more than the movement for so-called same-sex marriage. Be that as it may, it appears the general electorate in various times and places may still consider so-called same sex marriage a counterfeit version of marriage that could weaken the value of traditional marriage, also known as, well, marriage.

The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.

-G.K. Chesterton

Happy Reformation Day, from Pilgrims’ Progress! And an early happy All Saints’ Day! From Wikipedia, here’s a bit about the two:

“Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia (since the Reformation contributed to its cultural development profoundly, although Slovenians are mainly Roman Catholics) and in the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. It is also a national holiday in Chile since 2008.”

“All Saints’ Day (officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas), often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November in Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity in honor of all the saints, known and unknown.”

On Wednesday, October 21, CNN broadcasted an interview between Oklahoma State Senator Todd Lamb (who is the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor) and “Jennifer Mondino, a lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights.”

The two discuss an Oklahoma law regarding abortion. Here is the transcript.

Of course I’m biased, but think Lamb did a great a job and came out on top. But don’t merely take my word for it. Read it for yourself.

From the Economist.com

Which Americans have been married most?

FOR almost half of America’s brides and grooms, wedded bliss eventually turns to divorce misery. But many go on to marry again (and then again) in the search for the perfect mate. According to Census Bureau data gathered for the first time in 2008, the keenest on remarriage are those in Arkansas and Oklahoma, where over 10% of women who have ever been married have been hitched at least three times. The proportion of men (of those ever married) who go on to have at least three weddings is lower: 9.7% in Arkansas and 9.3% in Oklahoma. Southern and western states have the highest shares of those who are thrice (or more often) married, partly because of younger median marrying ages, more poverty and poorer education. New Jersey and Massachussets have the smallest shares for both women and men.

Read the rest here.

“(LifeSiteNews.com) – A massive crowd of pro-life Spanish citizens captured international headlines Saturday after marching on the country’s capital to protest plans to loosen abortion restrictions in the country.

“Estimates for the numbers of those in attendance varied, with mainstream media such as CNN and the New York Times reporting simply “thousands” or ”tens of thousands.” However, the Christian Post reports that Madrid’s regional government estimated the numbers of attendees at around 1.2 million, and a spokesman for one of the pro-life organizers said 1.5 million people attended. The U.K.’s BBC and numerous other media outlets also put the crowd at over a million.  According to Agence France Press, police put the number at 250,000.

“Signs reading “For Life, Women and Motherhood,” and “Women Against Abortion” greeted Spanish Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s efforts to push through a law making abortion-on-demand legal up to 14 weeks’ gestation, and allowing girls as young as 16 years old to abort their unborn child without parental consent.  The measure is due for consideration in Parliament soon.

“The full text of the story is available here.”

HT: JR

“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.”

-Edmund Burke

“When we say we’re going to be people of compassion, we need to realize what they consider compassion may not be what we consider compassion when we sit around in our circles of politics. They’re concerned about a son who may be held back in school, or about a daughter with asthma, or if one broken arm on the playground means missing the rent payment next month. Those of us who are people of faith have an obligation not only care who gets elected, but to care about lives and communities. That’s how we earn the right to present policies, not only to change America, but to change the world– when we care about life and care about people.”

-Mike Huckabee

I realize I may be in the minority, but I admire Christopher Columbus.

Though I’m not her biggest fan ever, Phyllis Schlafly has a nice piece about the man, the hero, the legend. It states in part:

“Columbus had great moral and physical courage. Again and again he faced mutinous sailors, armed rebels, frightful storms, and fighting Indians.”

So, as we celebrate Columbus Day, let’s marvel at what he accomplished and at the Lord he strived the serve.

I’ve never been able to put into words why of all the Pixar movies, A Bug’s Life, is my favorite. This article, in part, does it for me. Here’s an excerpt.

In Pixar’s first two feature length films, Toy Story (1995) and A Bug’s Life (1998), after a violent confrontation, two of the main characters are face to face. One of them berates the other in defense of an age-old system of master and servant, a system that the other character actively denounces because this system gets in the way of his lofty ambitions. In both films, the plot centers on this conflict of those who wish to uphold boundaries and those who wish to break through them.

However, there’s one main difference. In the film’s ideologies, Buzz Lightyear is wrong, and Flik is right.

Be that as it may, I say three cheers for (almost) all the Pixar movies. Keep ‘em coming!

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.

-The author of Hewbrews, The Bible

“A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which springs merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive after great things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an individual.”

-Theodore Roosevelt, from his notable speech, “The Strenuous Life“

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

-C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain, 1940

“The family is where parents and children learn to love sacrificially, to put others’ needs before their own desires, to sacrifice for the welfare and protection of the whole. If this does not begin with one’s own home and loved ones, it does not begin at all.

-Stephen Baskerville, in “Married to the State,” a must read column in The American Conservative

From BP: “A leading nonpartisan fact-checking organization says President Obama was incorrect when he said the congressional health care plans could not lead to government-funded abortion.”

Read the original piece here.

A while back, you may recall my mentioning the new book,Why We Love The Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion

The summary stated: “The authors of the award-winning Why We’re Not Emergent return to tackle another set of theological innovators. Whether committed, disgruntled, waffling, or disconnected from the local church, this book will help you love the bride of Christ.”

In the face of the Emerging Church’s “we love Jesus but dislike the church” sentiment comes this breath of fresh air. Though I’m less than halfway, I can see this book surpassing the authors’ superb Why We’re Not Emergent: by two guys who should be.

I intend to write a full review upon finishing. As a preview, I’d like to quote respected Christian scholar and author J.I. Packer, who said of the book: “As I read, I wanted to stand up and cheer.” I know just how you feel, Dr. Packer.

From the Baptist Press:

Irene Vilar’s “abortion addiction,” as she describes it, resulted in 15 of the lethal procedures in 16 years.”

If Vilar is sensing hatred, Tom McClusky, vice president of Family Research Council Action, wrote on the organization’s blog (www.thecloakroomblog.com), “I doubt it is coming from anyone in the pro-life movement.”

After reading the ABCnews.com article, McClusky wrote, “I am sure many would have the same reaction as me, one of pity for this poor woman who has had a troubled life, compounded by her multiple abortions.”

Amen. We do aim to be compassionate conservatives, after all. Read the rest here.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“We may, indeed, indulge in sport and jest, but in the same way as we enjoy sleep or other relaxations, and only when we have satisfied the claims of our earnest, serious task.”

-Cicero

“INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Planned Parenthood of Indiana will shut down five of its clinics in the central part of the state.”

“Clinics in northwest Indianapolis and in Anderson, Franklin, Kokomo and Shelbyville will close during the next six months due to a projected shortfall in federal assistance, according to the Associated Press, but no abortion services are provided at the five locations.”

Read the rest here.

The media silence has been deafening in the wake of the recent murder of a pro-life activist from Michigan. Here is the Associated Press story that has received almost no coverage that took some digging to find:

OWOSSO, Mich. (AP) — A man fatally shot an anti-abortion activist near a Michigan high school Friday, drove to a gravel pit and shot its owner to death and planned to kill a third man, but was arrested before he could act, a prosecutor said.

Harlan James Drake, 33, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the deaths of James Pouillon, 63, and Mike Fuoss, 61, said Shiawassee County Prosecutor Randy Colbry.

“The defendant had ill will toward these three individuals — not for the same reason necessarily, but had a grudge,” Colbry said.

Before classes were to begin Friday, Pouillon was protesting across the street from Owosso High School about 70 miles northwest of Detroit. Drake then drove by the school and shot Pouillon several times in front of horrified students and parents, officials said.

Owosso Police Chief Michael Compeau said he also believed Pouillon was targeted.

Here is more coverage on The Washington Times: http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2009/sep/11/national-right-life-committee-withholds-attack-unl/

Tell me: had you heard about this until now?

“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”

-C.S. Lewis

You may recall when Pilgrims Progress blogger Chris Doyle implored us to pray for Barack Obama. A new Baptist Press piece condemns a hate-filled, so-called prayer spewed by a non-Southern Baptist preacher from Arizona, then reminds of us how we ought to pray:

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”(1 Timothy 2:1-4).

In short, our prayers for the president must be directed for his ultimate spiritual good, not his condemnation.

“To be bred in a place of estimation; to see nothing low and sordid from one’s infancy; to be taught to respect one’s self; to be habituated to the censorial inspection of the public eye; to look early to public opinion; to stand upon such elevated ground as to be enabled to take a large view of the widespread and infinitely diversified combinations of men and affairs in a large society; to have leisure to read, to reflect, to converse; to be enabled to draw and court the attention of the wise and learned, wherever they are to be found; to be habituated in armies to command and to obey; to be taught to despise danger in the pursuit of honor and duty; to be formed to the greatest degree of vigilance, foresight, and circumspection, in a state of things in which no fault is committed with impunity and the slightest mistakes draw on the most ruinous consequences; to be led to a guarded and regulated conduct, from a sense that you are considered as an instructor of your fellow-citizens in their highest concerns, and that you act as a reconciler between God and man; to be employed as an administrator of law and justice, and to be thereby amongst the first benefactors to mankind; to be a professor of high science, or of liberal and ingenious art; to be amongst rich traders, who from their success are presumed to have sharp and vigorous understandings, and to possess the virtues of diligence, order, constancy, and regularity, and to have cultivated an habitual regard to commutative justice: these are the circumstances of men that form what I should call a natural aristocracy, without which there is no nation.”

-Edmund Burke

Interesting write up from one of my favorite evangelical thinkers:

For most of our history, Baptists have been more concerned with the externals of the Table—grape juice or real wine, who may preside, who may partake—rather than with the question of what actually goes on at this sacred meal.

Read the rest here.

“The latest rumor is that President Obama is going to have dinner on Martha’s Vineyard with Oprah Winfrey. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The most powerful person in the free world is going to have dinner with President Obama.”

-Conan O’Brien

An interesting piece from Christianity Today‘s website:

As Christians join the rest of the country in jousting over the proposed changes to our health care system, one significant fact should inform the Christian debate: modern health care is a Christian invention. The reasons Christians developed the world’s first health care system—as opposed to simply medical practitioners—are as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago.

Read the entire piece here.

“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.”

-George Washington

Let us remember, as people of faith, that our primary mission is not to have a political ideology, it’s to change the world so that every man, woman, boy, and girl can experience true freedom. Not just the freedom to speak out, but the freedom within to be all God ever intended for us to be. I would suggest that we need an evangelical version of Shock and Awe. That we would show this country that the people of faith are not just angry folks mad about some things we don’t like, but people who have joy in our hearts. People who want to help those without housing to find it, those without drinking water to drink it, to help people who are hungry at night to know what it is to have food. And you know, some people say, “Are you worried that the government might try to do it,” and yes I am, but I’m even more worried the church won’t do it, and the government will mess up trying. That’s why those of us who are people of faith need to act out of our souls and consciousness, and not expect government to do what we could do if every believer, instead of sending half of his money to the government in taxes, would give one dime out of every dollar to his church.

-Mike Huckabee

Today, August 18, in Christian history:

August 18, 1688: John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress preaches his last sermon, in London.

Me: His masterpiece, Pilgrim’s Progress is arguably the most famous Christian published book besides the Bible (before The Shack usurped its status, that is, on the wings of a bereft culture).

The New York Times offers a pro’s and con’s look at the new health care public policy on the table: co-ops.

“If a public insurance option were to be abandoned, it could be replaced by an alternative favored by some moderates like Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota: the health insurance cooperative.”

Read the rest here. I like what I hear so far.

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”

-Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

“The Christian should work as if all depended on him, and pray as if it all depended on God.”

-Charles H. Spurgeon

“Put your nose into the Bible everyday. It is your spiritual food. And then share it. Make a vow not to be a lukewarm Christian.”

-Kirk Cameron

Christianity Today offers yet another thought-provoking column on the “marketing” Jesus movement. The piece says in part:

The de-churched nature of our theology makes evangelism hard to do without seeming salesy, because churchless evangelism unavoidably promotes a consumerist soteriology. When it’s just you and Jesus, you (the consumer) “invite him” (the product) “into your heart” (brand adoption) and “get saved” (consumer gratification). Certainly God has worked and continues to work through these formulae. His doing so testifies to his grace, however, not to the fidelity of such evangelistic formulations, which, in this culture, inadvertently make Jesus out to be a cosmic version of the consumer brands promoted in the thousands of advertisements each of us sees daily.

Such brands promise to deliver goods—self-esteem, sex appeal, confidence, coolness—that they have no intrinsic capacity to give. Their power is in consumers’ collective willingness to imbue them with that kind of power. In other words, consumerism is impotent to deliver on its promise, and deep down, we know it. Consumerist marketing offers something that just isn’t there.

Read the rest of this entry »

From NewsOK.com

Former President Jimmy Carter appeared to throw down the proverbial gauntlet at Friday’s New Baptist Covenant meeting, asking a large crowd of people where they stood on thorny issues that have divided Baptists and other Christians for years:

“How many of you believe women should serve as deacons, pastors and military chaplains or do you believe women are supposed to be submissive to their husbands and not allowed to be leaders and teachers of men?” he said.

“How many of you believe homosexual Christians should be treated with respect and accepted into our congregations or that the sin of homosexuality is paramount above all other sins and warrants their complete exclusion?”

“How many of you believe that the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade (legalizing abortion) was appropriate and should remain unchanged or that all abortions should be prohibited?”

Sounds like a pretty unifying speech to me.

“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

-H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America, critiquing the social gospel.

The Christian Research Institute offers a summary critique of Joel Osteen’s best-seller, Become a Better You. It begins:

Named as one of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2006” and selected as the “Most Influential Christian in 2006” by the readers of Church Report Magazine, Joel Osteen’s star continues to rise. His charmed life as the guru of the ”gospel-light” message is now all the more assured with skyrocketing sales of a new blockbuster book on self-improvement. Not without its merits, Become a Better You offers good advice throughout, such as accepting God’s forgiveness, reaching out to others, and never giving up. As in his other number-one bestseller Your Best Life Now, which remained on the New York Times “Best Sellers” list for more than two years and has sold more than four million copies, however, there are serious concerns about its teachings.

Read the rest here.

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

–Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago (1973)

National Review magazine tells the conspiracy theorists to stop the nonsense:

“President Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at 7:24 p.m, in Honolulu County, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. The serial number on his birth certificate is 010641. Baby Barack’s birth was not heralded, as some of his partisans have suggested, by a star in the east, but it was heralded by the Honolulu Star, as well as the Honolulu Advertiser, each of which published birth announcements for young Mr. Obama.

“Much foolishness has become attached to the question of President Obama’s place of birth, and a few misguided souls among the Right have indulged it. The myth that Barack Obama is ineligible to be president represents the hunt for a magic bullet that will make all the unpleasant complications of his election and presidency disappear.”

Read the rest here.

Of all the radio talk shows out there, among my favorites is the “Bible Answer Man” broadcast. Hosted by Christian author and apologist, Hank Hannegraaff, the show touches on cutting edge issues and theological topics. For a look into what answers you might here on the show, here is his blog, as well as an excerpt:

I often get the question, “Is apologetics really necessary?” Too often people suppose the task of evangelism and apologetics is the exclusive domain of scholars and theologians but that simply isn’t true.

Happy reading and listening!

“Let everyone regulate his conduct… by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us, and the path of duty will be clear before him.”

-attributed to William Wilberforce

“I commend President Obama for forcing the issue of health-care reform into the public debate,” says Chuck Colson in a new article. “Our present system, still the best in the world, needs to expand coverage to the uninsured.”

The question is how to do it and “who will decide who gets medical care.” The most helpless in society should not be forgotten in the President’s plan. By this I mean the pre-born and very elderly. Read the rest of Colson’s thoughts here.

Moreover, our newer system must focus more on “health” than “health care,” shifting away from predominantly curative to preventative measures. Mike Huckabee explains it better than I could. That being said, I am grateful that the President is calling for action. Just hope he remembers to “do no harm.”

“In answer to the historical query of why it was accepted, and is accepted, I answer for millions of others in my reply; because it fits the lock; because it is like life. It is one among many stories; only it happens to be a true story. It is one among many philosophies; only it happens to be the truth. We accept it; and the ground is solid under our feet and the road is open before us. It does not imprison us in a dream of destiny or a consciousness of the universal delusion. It opens to us not only incredible heavens, but what seems to some an equally incredible earth, and makes it credible. This is the sort of truth that is hard to explain because it is a fact; but it is a fact to which we can call witnesses. We are Christians and Catholics not because we worship a key, but because we have passed a door; and felt the wind that is the trumpet of liberty blow over the land of the living.”

-G.K. Chesterton on the Christian faith in The Everlasting Man

You may recall the Quote of the Day from earlier this month in which John Piper made an argument against social media like Facebook and Twitter which he then refutes, saying “These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it.”

A new article from American Conservative magazine, “Brevity Is the Soul of Twit,” presents a nice counter to Piper’s straw man argument.

It’s trendy to lament Twitter’s vacuity. But might 140 characters be just the right space for “the clear, the brief, the bold”? With the Internet awash in too many syllables, Twitter could cut through the clutter, if only its authors brought sufficient wit.”

Who’s right? Is Twitter a destructive force or constructive? Probably a little bit of both.

Read the rest here.

“Now personally, I don’t recommend the Potter books. I’d rather Christian kids not read them. But with some 325 million of them in print, your kids will probably see them and hear others talk about them, and they’re probably going to read them anyway. So use this occasion to teach them to be discerning—like Daniel. Dare them to have Daniel as their role model, not Harry Potter.

“And if your kids do enjoy Harry’s magical world, you should give them copies of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

“These books also feature wizards and witches and magic, but in addition, they inspire the imagination within a Christian framework—and prepare the hearts of readers for the real-life story of Jesus Christ.”

–Chuck Colson in his July 2007 Breakpoint commentary

What do you all think? Is Colson right?

Sometimes you need a little history to put our modern social problems into perspective. It’s helpful to know that no-fault divorce was pioneered by the Bolsheviks right after the Russian revolution of 1917. Generally not people we want to emulate.

At the very least, we should follow the nuclear submarine method of divorce in New York, in which both parties must turn their keys (i.e. agree) before a no-fault divorce can be granted. After all, shouldn’t it take as many people to get out as it took to get in?

President Obama has oft discussed finding common ground on the pro-life issue. His remarks at Notre Dame, in fact, hinged on that. Taking him at his word, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission explores whether common ground can be found on the life issue and comes up with some satisfying answers, championed largely by Democrats for Life of whom I largely approve:

Can pro-life and pro-choice people find agreement on how to reduce the number of abortions in a way that honors the sanctity of all human life? The answer lies in the Pregnant Women Support Act. The bill addresses the sad reality of widespread abortion by encouraging pregnant women and girls to bring their babies to term. It was crafted with a specific goal in mind: reducing the number of abortions by 95 percent in 10 years.

The Pregnant Women Support Act would make grants available to adoption centers and establish a toll-free telephone number to direct women to organizations that provide support during pregnancy, including information on adoption centers. It would also make adoption information available to women whose babies are prenatally diagnosed with conditions such as Down syndrome. Additionally, it would increase and make permanent the adoption tax credit. Women and girls who intend to keep their babies would be helped in many similar ways, such as assisting pregnant students with child care through colleges and universities.

Read more here about this attempt to make immediate progress for life.

“To argue for abortion on demand from the hard cases of rape and incest is like trying to argue for the elimination of traffic laws from the fact that one might have to violate some of them in rare instances, such as when one’s spouse or child needs to be rushed to the hospital.”

-Dr. Francis J. Beckwith

“These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it.”

-John Piper making an argument against social media like Facebook and Twitter which he then refutes, explaining why he tweets

From WORLD magazine:

Planned Parenthood researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine that a revised method of conducting drug-induced abortions has allegedly reduced the risk of serious complications by 93 percent. Previously Planned Parenthood diverged from the FDA’s recommended guidelines for RU-486 by administering an oral dose of mifepristone followed by a vaginal dose of misoprostol. But the 2005 deaths of four American women and one Canadian woman from bacterial infections spurred Planned Parenthood to conform to FDA standards and instead have women dissolve the misoprostol pill in their mouths, followed by a precautionary course of antibiotics.

As a result, Planned Parenthood said the number of serious infections resulting from drug-induced abortions has declined to one-16th of the original rate. Experts say the latest research will likely spark a future increase in chemical abortions, although Family Research Council spokesman Chris Gacek said, “It’s hard to know whether this increases the (total) number of abortions.” Last year, approximately a quarter of all U.S. abortions were performed with drugs rather than surgery.

Me: As we celebrate the closing of abortion clinics and the sunset of surgical abortions, let us stay aware that the Brave New World of abortion in a bottle is only dawning.

“The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time but using every hour for the highest ends. So be it this day.”

• Charles Spurgeon, Faith’s Checkbook entry for June 22.

“I still think, although I was much too optimistic in the early days, that the possibility of stopping a pregnancy very early is significant. The morning-after pill will become more accessible and easier to take. So I think the side that wants to take the choice away from women and give it to the state, they’re fighting a losing battle. Time is on the side of change.”

-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a recent interview with the New York Times

Me: The so-called morning-after pill can likely act as an abortifacient and threatens the life of a conceptus. So, contrary to her thought, it can end a life and end a pregnancy after it begins. Justice Ginsburg is right, however, that the next wave of abortions won’t be done in a clinic but in the privacy of people’s home through prescription and over-the-counter drugs. May God help us.

Less than a year ago, I wrote this review of the best-selling book, The Shack. In the meanwhile, I have spoken to countless others who either loved it or hated it.

The other day I came across a review by author and preacher, Dr. Michael Youssef. He says, “The book is like a deep ditch covered with beautiful flowers — and sadly, many Christians are falling into this ditch.” Read the rest here.

His is not the most thorough treatment of the work, but neither is the best comment I’ve heard to date about it. Controversial Pastor Mark Driscoll said, “If you haven’t read The Shack, don’t.”

What do you all think of The Shack?

HT: Jerry M.

According to the Associated Press:

“WASHINGTON (AP) — Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren says the country’s largest Islamic organization showed courage when it invited him to speak at its annual convention.

Warren is the founder of Saddleback Community Church in Orange County, Calif., and one of the most prominent religious leaders in the U.S. He addressed the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America on Saturday night.

He says the two largest faiths on the planet — Muslims and Christians — must work together to combat stereotypes, promote peace and freedom and solve global problems.

Warren’s willingness to show support for U.S. Muslims is a huge gain for the community, which has endured intense scrutiny since 9/11. The pastor’s appearance at the convention was criticized ahead of time by some fellow conservative Christians.”

What do you all think of this?

“The only thing new in this world is the history that you don’t know”

-Harry S Truman

“And so two more American families discover a truth as old as marriage: a lasting covenant between a man and a woman can be a vehicle for the nurture and protection of each other, the one reliable shelter in an uncaring world — or it can be a matchless tool for the infliction of suffering on the people you supposedly love above all others, most of all on your children.”

-A recent TIME magazine article on marriage, Gov. Sanford and Congressman Ensign

Hat tip: JR

For better and worse, I’m always trying to read the subtle messages movies send, especially to children. Here’s a great line from a movie I’ve never seen called The Last Days of Disco, criticizing Lady and the Tramp:

“[Tramp's] he’s a self-confessed chicken thief, and all-around sleazeball. What’s the function of a film of this kind? Essentially as a primer on love and marriage directed at very young people, imprinting on their little psyches the idea that smooth-talking delinquents recently escaped from the local pound are a good match for nice girls from sheltered homes. When in ten years the icky human version of Tramp shows up around the house, their hormones will be racing and no one will understand why. Films like this program women to adore jerks.”

Over the top commentary? Yes. But think about it: “Lady” really should have accepted “Jock’s” [pictured left] marriage proposal. He would have made a way better husband and father.

Hat tip: JR

“From the Brody File today — 19 pro-life Democrats have sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi saying they will not support a public option if the government covers abortion or abortion-related services,” reports WORLD magazine.

To Speaker Pelosi they wrote:

“We believe in a culture that supports and respects the right to life and is dedicated to the protection and preservation of families.  Therefore, we cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan.  We believe that a government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan, should not be used to fund abortion.”

Or happy Canada Day, whichever you prefer to say. You know how the saying goes, that government is best which governs closest to home. Or something like that.

With the progress in Iraq dominating headlines, I wanted to link to one of the most superb speeches on the subject. Delivered at The Heritage Foundation in 2005, the greatest professor in America, Dr. J. Rufus Fears, offers the most-thought provoking comments.

The piece, “The Lessons of the Roman Empire for America Today,” begins:

I am honored to give a lecture named after Russell Kirk, who told us to ponder the permanent things, such as history and human nature. It is about human nature and history that I want to speak to you this afternoon.

We are on patrol today in Iraq. Men and women of the United States armed forces in armored vehicles patrol the streets of Baghdad. They pass in the way of so many who have come before them: the Egyptian charioteers of Ramses II, the Macedonian phalanx of Alexander the Great, the Roman legionnaires of Cae­sar and Trajan, the Crusaders of Richard the Lion-Hearted, the legionnaires of Napoleon, the Camel Corps of Lawrence of Arabia.

All of these have come through the Middle East. Many of them have come with the best of intentions, by their lights, to bring stability, even freedom to the Middle East. All have passed away. The Middle East has been the graveyard of empires.

In the course of history, we have come to take up that burden. We live in a time as momentous as that of the American Revolution, the Civil War, the days after Pearl Harbor. In each of these watersheds in our his­tory, we have not only taken up the burden, but we have advanced the cause of freedom.

In the American Revolution, we saw to it that a nation could be established under liberty and law. In the American Civil War, we purged ourselves of the great evil of slavery so that we could go on and become a model for the world. In World War II and the Cold War that followed, we advanced the cause of freedom so that today, more people live in free­dom than at any other time in history. That is the result of America bearing this burden.

I think that September 11 is just as important a date as Pearl Harbor, and we now advance into a new and dangerous era. Think of Winston Churchill when he said how Britain set out across unknown seas, through uncharted waters towards unknown shores, guided only by the beacon of freedom. We have another guide, and that is history and the les­sons of history. For the founders of our country, his­tory was the most important single discipline that every citizen of a free republic should study.

Enjoy the rest here.

“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”

—Martin Luther

Mike Huckabee’s website has a new look. Not bad at all.

One thing I neglected to mention in my convention update post was that, following his ringing oration, Huckabee broke out the bass guitar and jammed with the SBC praise band.

Having recently returned from the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in Louisville, Kentucky, I wanted to pass on some thoughts:

Speakers

The list of speakers for the Pastors’ Conference/SBC meeting included former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Chuck Colson, Richard Land and more. I was inspired by all on the program, including Okie pastor and author Tom Elliff.

Elections

Without opposition, the convention re-elected Johnny Hunt, who is doing a stand-up job as SBC president.

Key Issues

There were some unusual motions made from the floor, such as a request that LifeWay bookstores no longer carry Mark Driscoll’s books. The resolutions, meanwhile, were fairly predictable and innocuous (with the exception of the one I am about to mention).

The Aftermath

The mainstream media, as best as I can tell, picked up on two developments from the meeting. The first was the resolution about Barack Obama. What was meant to be a resolution showing our willingness to support (insofar as biblical ideals allow) and pray for him was taken to be an insult. The media highlighted only our opposition to his pro-choice stance.

The second was the action to break fellowship with a Baptist church in Ft. Worth that is actively embracing the homosexual lifestyle. The vote to break fellowship took only a moment but led to huge headlines. Go figure.

First Things

What struck me most about the convention was the fervent desire to return to the Great Commission and rely on the Lord during dark times. Perhaps Baptists are not the most correct of all Christian denominations on every single issue, but they are a good people, set on spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness and new Life He brings.

Why We Love The Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion
by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

“The authors of the award-winning Why We’re Not Emergent return to tackle another set of theological innovators. Whether committed, disgruntled, waffling, or disconnected from the local church, this book will help you love the bride of Christ.”

In the face of the Emerging Church’s “we love Jesus but hate the church” sentiment comes this breath of fresh air. Having read Why We’re Not Emergent, I am confident this work will be worth its weight in gold.

Christianity Today has a must-read article on public policy and abortion in America. It claims, “The current proposals to lower the abortion rate will only make things worse.”

The piece goes to analyze some of Obama’s words and actions pertaining to abortion, which in this case are not the same.

The article, part of a complete series on the pro-life cause, even examines the next wave of abortion on demand: chemical abortions under other names, like “emergency contraceptives.”

Christianity Today‘s journal, LEADERSHIP, has an important analysis on recently reported trends within the Church. An excerpt reads:

Spiritual growth, then, may be occurring for many of today’s Christians in non-traditional ways. Instead of attending church on Sunday mornings, many opt for personal, individual ways to stretch themselves spiritually.

There is some good news in the story, as well as some action steps that could stem the tide.

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.”

-BARACK OBAMA, in a recent White House press release

Hat tip: BTD

The Oklahoman points to a site created by two Okies. The site, ArtofManliness.com, discusses in detail the idea of a gentleman. “The idea grew from Brett McKay’s own search for the essence of manliness, what influences boys, or the older version, guys, to morph into men.”

I cannot endorse all of their writings, but it is worth a good look.

Making sure you saw this good news:

“Oklahoma Democratic Gov. Brad Henry has signed into law bills banning sex-selection abortions and human cloning.”

We are not at the end of fighting Brave-New-World creep in Oklahoma. We are not even at the beginning of the end. But this bill may signify we are at end of the beginning.

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

– C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters

“Are Christians being more influenced by Jack Bauer than Jesus Christ?” a new Christianity Today piece asks.

“A new survey shows most churchgoers support torture.” Read more about this disturbing trend here.

One of my favorite authors and professors, Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, answers “How should Christians respond to the new movie Angels & Demons?” You can read his entire press release here, but for a taste:

“As in The Da Vinci Code, Brown blends history and fiction so smoothly that it’s difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends. The difficulty comes when readers fail to explore the claims and inadvertently trust fiction as a fact. According to Angels and Demons, ‘References to all works of art, tombs, tunnels, and architecture in Rome are entirely factual, and the brotherhood of the Illuminati is also factual,’” says Jones.

The Illuminati

“In Angels and Demons, The Illuminati is depicted as an organization that began in the 1500’s, whereas it actually began in 1776,” Jones says.

Persecution of Galileo?

“And as for the supposed persecution of Galileo: While Galileo was correct that the earth moved around the sun, his reasoning was wrong. Galileo’s ‘proof’ was the movement of the ocean; he said that the tides came in and out because they were sloshing around on a spinning earth. We know now that that’s not what causes the tides. He was never tortured, and he wasn’t convicted in court because of scientific irregularities. It was because he lied under oath. He was exiled to a luxuriant villa where he carried out scientific research until the day of his death.”

The Death of Copernicus

“Angels and Demons declares that Copernicus was murdered by the Roman Catholic Church for his scientific research when, in truth, Copernicus was a Polish priest who died a natural death,” Jones says.

Me: Dr. Jones provides some worthy analysis. Yet unlike The Da Vinci Code,  this movie seems to be drawing a yawn from critics, the media, Christian apologists. Just about everybody, including me.

“America may have a president and Congress that support abortion rights, but a new Gallup poll suggests that for the first time such a stance is not the majority view.”

Gallup said on Friday that a new poll, conducted May 7 to 10, found “51 percent of Americans calling themselves ‘pro-life’ on the issue of abortion and 42 percent ‘pro-choice.’ This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.”

“The new results, obtained from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, represent a significant shift from a year ago, when 50 percent were pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life. Prior to now, the highest percentage identifying as pro-life was 46 percent, in both August 2001 and May 2002.”

by Morris H. Chapman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)– I am truly amazed at the excellence of many of our Christian colleges and universities. I serve as a trustee of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and we have remarkable students from around the world and a first-class faculty to train them. Several times throughout the year we send out graduates who will elevate the professionalism in their respective fields but also who will transform the world with the message of the Gospel.

But in celebrating accomplishments like these, I now wonder if our focus in the evangelical community should shift at least in part from training our children during the transition to adulthood to placing greater emphasis on training up a child in the way he should go. I’m not advocating the neglect of what we have already established in higher education, but simply a course correction in an area that seems to have suffered neglect — the protection and nurturing of the spiritual health and growth of children and adolescents. In far too many public schools throughout the country our children are being bombarded with secular reasoning, situational ethics and moral erosion.

Read the rest here.

“The Bible Answer Man” radio program broadcasts on weekdays from 5-6 p.m. (CST).

It is arguably the most insightful program in Christian Talk radio. Even if I do not agree with him on every single issue, Hank Hanegraaff, has done much to defend the faith and is an indispensable apologist.

This Wednesday and Thursday, he is going to take on major skeptics who are attacking the veracity of the Scriptures. Read more about the program here.

“There is no room for torture as part of the United States’ intelligence gathering process, in Richard Land’s view. The practice known as ‘waterboarding’ is torture, he said.” Read the rest here.

Excepting his views on the Red River Shootout, I think I may have never disagreed with the man.

First Things has an important read on how to create a family-center economy in America today. Let’s just say the Cato Institute would not agree with their touting the policy planks proposed by the likes of Ramesh Ponnuru, Ross Douthat, and Reihan Salamsuch.

Here was the crescendo moment of the piece:

The conservative movement today seems weaker than at any time since Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater. There are no free-marketeers in the foxholes, and it is hard to find an economist of any stripe who does not believe that the government must provide some kind of economic stimulus and rescue the financial system.

But the present crisis also might present the conservative movement with the greatest opportunity it has had since Ronald Reagan took office.

Christianity Today interviews “Joe the Plumber,” a fixture of the 2008 circus, I mean campaign. Glad to see he is a professing Christian.

“The U.S. Senate easily confirmed Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of Health and Human Services April 28 despite controversy over her record on abortion and the political contributions she has received from the country’s most notorious abortion doctor.” Read some commentary from Richard Land here.

This is by far Obama’s most controversial, partisan, pro-choice pick in my book. I could easily look the other way on almost all of the others, but this is inexcusable. And so is Sam Brownback‘s voting to approve her.

“A Georgia Senate committee has approved legislation that would limit the use of in vitro fertilization and embryo research. With concerns that the use of the medical technology is going overboard, pro-life groups are promoting the bill, the Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act.”

Read the rest here.

The Washington Post has an interesting new piece that makes “the emotional, biological and economic case for marrying young.” Read it here.

HT: JR

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. ”

C.S. Lewis, from ‘Is Theology Poetry?’

I am not a scientist. I am not a doctor. In fact, I do not even own a white coat. But I can recognize unethical science when I see it, and embryonic stem cell research (albeit with noble intentions) fits in this category.

That is why I was aggravated to see that Gov. Henry vetoed a bill that would have essentially banned the practice in Oklahoma, while encouraging adult stem cell research. The latter is reported to have proven, positive results. The former does not, which is why it is surprising that the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce lobbied against the bill. You would think business executives would want to invest in the type of research that provides results.

Be that as it may, a veto-override in the Oklahoma State Senate has failed. To read more about the legislators who changed their vote, click here. I am not alone in my view, as more important people, such as Joni Eareckson Tada, oppose the use of embryonic stem cell research on ethical grounds.

“Church attendance is slipping rapidly as Britain has become one of the most secular countries in Europe,” says a telling NPR report.

Read the rest here. May the Lord help them–and us.

The Christian Research Journal has a thought-provoking piece on the Roman Catholic Church.

Entitled, “What Think Ye of Rome? An Evangelical Appraisal of Contemporary Catholicism,” the author goes out of his way to provide an fair and balanced answer to his own question.

Was he generous enough, though? I am still deciding but would like your opinion.

Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

Christ will come again.

Here’s wishing you all a good Good Friday and a meaningful, Happy Easter!

OK, I’ll admit it. I have not read any of the books in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, nor have I seen the popular film. As a general rule, I do not comment on works I have not read or seen.

Yet I am aware of countless teens (and even grown, Christian women) who are swooning over the works, therefore I felt compelled to research whether its runaway popularity is a positive development.

A paraphrase summary I found of the film goes something like this: Seventeen-year-old Bella falls for Edward, who is charming, mysterious, powerful, and dangerous but wise beyond his years and, ultimately, a gentleman. The paragon of self-control Edward will not allow them to have premarital sex. The catch is Edward is a vampire.

The abstinence seems to be why many Christian reviewers have heaped praise on the books and movie. I have found two reviews, however, from sources I trust, The Christian Research Journal and WORLD magazine, who think differently.

In CRJ’s review [not available online] entitled, “The Twilight Saga: A Classic Romance Too Mature for Teens,” Stephen Ross takes a fair and balanced look at the series. His review crescendos with this stinging statement: “The Twilight love saga, then, may be the ultimate female coming-of-age fantasy that our biblically illiterate culture can offer, and, as such, this captivating story evokes dangerlously false expectations in young women that no man could ever satisfy. In fact, given that female sexuality is quite naturally rational, far more so than young male sexuality, the comparison that comes to mind is that Twilight is to female sexuality what pornography is to male sexuality.”

WORLD’s review, written from a woman’s perspective, is no kinder. Read the rest of this entry »

“Be not deceived, Wormwood, our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe in which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

-”Screwtape,” a senior demon speaking to his understudy, ”Wormwood,” in C.S. Lewis‘ masterpiece, The Screwtape Letters. (The aforementioned “Enemy” in “Screwtape’s” eyes is, of course, God Himself.)

“In answer to the historical query of why [Christian faith] was accepted and is accepted, I answer for millions of others in my reply; because it fits the lock, because it is like life. It is one among many stories; only it happens to be a true story… We accept it; and the ground is solid under our feet and the road is open before us…. It opens to us not only incredible heavens but what seems to some an equally incredible earth, and makes it credible.

“This is the sort of truth that is hard to explain because it is a fact; but it is a fact to which we can call witnesses. We are Christians… not because we worship a key, but becasue we have passed a door; and felt the wind that is the trumpet of liberty blow over the land of the living.”

-G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”

-George Orwell, written in 1939

William P. Young, author of the runaway best-selling fiction book, The Shack, is coming to Oklahoma next month. Read more about it here, and pay special notice to the backlash.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

-Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Me: Though Dickens referred to the French Revolution, could this describe today’s cultural statement?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all. Growing up, I always enjoyed this holiday, though until recently this Evangelical did not fully appreciate the saint behind it.

Of the many feats (some likely legendary but many true) of Patrick’s, I like that he explained the Holy Trinity by use of the three-leaf clover. My five year old daughter learned a powerful lesson from that, and I suspect the author of The Shack could use a similar lesson.

Read more about St. Patrick’s love for Christ and the people of Ireland here.

“At the White House a few moments ago, President Obama nominated Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be his secretary of Health and Human Services.”

This is his worst, most-devastating pick yet–and that is saying something.

Tonight (Friday February 27) William Dembski will debate Michael Ruse at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Dembski is an expert in Intelligent Design, Dr. Ruse is a Darwinian philosopher. They have previously debated several times and collaborated on a book together.

As many of you may know, this is the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his Origin of the Species.

On Saturday February 28, Trinity Baptist Church will host “Contending for the Faith: An Apologetics Conference” with Dr. William Dembski. The conference will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude at noon. Dr. Dembski will address “The Task of Apologetics” and “Every Christian an Apologist”. The cost of the conference is $5 and includes breakfast.

Did you know: “Washington’s Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day (or Presidents’ Day). As Washington’s Birthday or Presidents Day, it is also the official name of a concurrent state holiday celebrated on the same day in a number of states.”

So, happy birthday to the father of our country, General Washington. Without question or debate, George Washington was and remains the greatest President that ever was or could ever be.

It is, however, profitable to mention others who positively shaped the course of this nation. In no particular order, here are a few:

Read the rest of this entry »

“America needs a Manhattan Project for character. Children must be taught to tell the truth, that falsehoods have bad consequences. Children must know that honor, respect for others, integrity and fair play are indispensable to a happy life.”

- former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, writing in a column in the Feb. 6, 2009, edition of The Oklahoman

“The Darwin 2009 Project at the University of Oklahoma will mark the anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of publication of his On the Origin of Species with activities and speakers throughout 2009, including a March 6 speech by atheist Professor Dr. Richard Dawkins, of Oxford University, in England.

“Professor Dawkins was featured in the 2008 documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, featuring Ben Stein.

“Ahead of the Darwin 2009 Project, Trinity Baptist Church in Norman is hosting the Designed for Faith: Science & Religion in Conversation Conference tomorrow, Sat., February 7, from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.”

Source: Oklahoma Family Policy Council Email Newsletter.

This news story tells me there is at least one other Okie besides me who hasn’t bent over backwards to the yoga boom. The story says in part:

For Laurette Willis, there is no middle ground on yoga. She describes it as a gateway to the occult or New Age religion, and, at best, a diluted, one-size-fits-all spirituality.

The Oklahoma resident and author spent more than 20 years practicing and teaching yoga before reconnecting with her Christian faith and inventing PraiseMoves, a Bible-based exercise program that pairs individual verses with postures, some of which are similar to yoga poses.

In those two decades, Willis said yoga opened her to astrology, metaphysics, crystals, channeling, psychic readings, out-of-body experiences and other practices.

My Elijah Complex needs a reality check sometimes.

Hat Tip: BTD

“Oklahomans have an opportunity to express their belief in the sanctity of human life to their legislators during the 18th Annual Rose Day February 4 at the State Capitol. (Rose distribution at 10:30 a.m. and rally begins at 11:45 a.m.)”

The Capitol never has such a pleasing aroma as today. I hope to see many of you there.

Interesting article on National Review Online today. It begins:

“For the first time since Jimmy Carter ran for the White House in 1976, large numbers of evangelical and Catholic voters pulled the Democratic lever in a presidential election. Last week, Pres. Barack Obama decided to reverse a policy that prohibits U.S. tax dollars from funding abortion providers overseas.”

“How to square the two? Some younger Christians probably saw it coming: Obama’s campaign emphasized social-justice issues like overcoming racism, combating poverty, and tackling global issues like AIDS, and for them, this agenda trumped abortion. For others, however, the new policy is a betrayal: While courting the evangelical and Catholic vote on the campaign trail, Obama also promised to reduce the number of abortions.”

Though I chose to start out neutral and/or favorable to him, this one major policy switch (and the disloyalty to his campaign rhetoric it represents) is why I cannot in good conscience approve of the job Obama is doing. Read more of the piece here.

Amid the backdrop of news stories on Guatanamo Bay detention camp’s future, and the runaway popularity of the show “24,” I bring up the said question.

A couple years back, Christianity Today published an important column on the piece entitled, “5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong: And why there should be no exceptions.”

We could debate all day what defines torture, but it seems to me it’s one of those things that is hard to put into words, but you know it when you see it. We could further debate if waterboarding qualifies as “torture.”

Setting aside specifics, I see no biblical or moral grounds in which the ends justify these means of torture in itself. But what do you think?

On a lighter note, Jay Leno quipped that with Obama doing away with any and all forms of torture, perhaps ABC’s The View might soon be cancelled. One can only hope.

The indispensable Christian journal, First Things, has an interesting piece on pro-life politics. It begins:

It happens every four years—maybe every two years: Anytime there’s an election in this country, the pundits and political experts take to their soapboxes and proclaim the death of pro-life politics. The unwashed yokels in Utah, Alabama, South Dakota, Oklahoma: They’re an embarrassment, you see, and the sooner we stop paying attention to them, the sooner the nation’s politics will regain its equilibrium.

Are pro-life politics yesterday’s news? Read the rest here.

“In sum, while an alarming number of Western Christians suppose they can achieve physical and spiritual well-being through a form of yoga divorced from its Eastern worldview, the reality is that attempts to Christianize Hinduism only Hinduize Christianity.”

- Hank Hanegraff, adding to a carefully documented three-part series entitled, “The Yoga Boom, A Call for Christian Discernment.”

Touchstone magazine has a must-read column on the devastating effects of divorce, covering it from numerous angles you do not normally see. It begins:

The decline of the family has now reached critical and truly dangerous proportions. Family breakdown touches virtually every family and every American. It is not only the major source of social instability in the Western world today but also seriously threatens civic freedom and constitutional government.

G. K. Chesterton once observed that the family serves as the principal check on government power, and he suggested that someday the family and the state would confront one another. That day has arrived.

Read the rest here.

That is what I’m doing today. Will try and muster up some blogs worth reading soon…

“Richard John Neuhaus, 72, editor-in-chief of First Things, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, and author of numerous books, died Thursday morning in New York City.”

WORLD magazine correctly noted, “Protestant evangelicals have lost a friend who himself was Roman Catholic.” Read more.

“When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.”

Ted Kennedy
August 3, 1971

(hat tip: BTD)

If we were able to somehow calibrate our time’s equivalent to a moral Dow Jones Industrial average, I wonder if 2008 would have fared any better than the financial markets. Indeed it was easier for me to recall many discouraging trends and headlines than encouraging, from a culturally conservative, Christian perspective.

Be that as it may, I have put together this list of the good and the bad. Perhaps as you make your New Year’s resolutions, you could ponder this question as well:

Concerning Trends

• The Shack was a runaway bestseller
• Yoga became more widely available–in churches at that
• Millions of pro-life Christians supported Barack Obama
• Emergent church spokesman, Rob Bell and Brian McLaren, became much more influential
• Numerous pro-life initiatives went down at the ballot box (in South Dakota and other key states)
• The so-called gospel of Judas gained headlines and caused confusion
• And perhaps most disturbing of all, Christianity Today published a movie review of Sex and the City (a fairly favorable one at that)

Encouraging Trends

• Millions of people worldwide accepted the Gospel, with key gains in China, Africa and other parts of the world.
• Rick Warren represented evangelical Christians well at a presidential forum at Saddleback Church.
• The Bible was the number one best selling book–yet again.
• The Chronicles of Narnia books and movie outdid The Golden Compass.

Finally, it was also amid the backdrop of 2008 that this very blog, Pilgrim’s Progress, was founded. We appreciate you reading our thoughts and offering yours. Here’s praying for a good 2009.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Proverbs 31:8 (NIV)

My criteria include:

a) focus on the Christ Child and all His coming means;

b) whether it has stood the test of time (i.e. newer songs have the burden of proof; and

c) musical quality (though I realize many older hymns were later put to other tunes).

But first, honorable mentions include: Hallelujah! Chorus (I was recently told this was actually part of the Easter, not Christmas, portion of Handel’s Messiah); O Come All Ye Faithful, and Mary Did You Know?

The top five are:

5. What Child Is This? (I love the composer’s answer to his own question)

4. Away in a Manger (Children love this song and for good reason)

3. Silent Night (Is there any more serene song that this?)

2. O Holy Night (enough said)

Read the rest of this entry »

10. A Christmas Story (so many classic lines)

9. Frosty the Snowman (brings happiness even thinking about it)

8. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (lovin’ the song)

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon, not the Jim Carey)

6. Miracle on 34th Street (the black and white version, of course)

5. Ernest Saves Christmas (admit it, you like this one too)

Read the rest of this entry »

From World Magazine’s blog:

“Beliefnet recently interviewed Rick Warren and asked, among other things, if gay marriage or divorce was a bigger threat to the family. Warren, who supported Proposition 8, said it was a no-brainer: ‘Divorce. There’s no doubt about it.’”

This may surprise some of our readership, but I think Warren is absolutely right.

The indispensable Christian journal, Touchstone, has an interesting new piece entitled “Morality Ploys,” underscoring the pro-life setbacks in 2008. It begins:

If 2008 is remembered as the year of the “bailout,” when the federal government spent billions to rescue the nation’s financial system, it should also be recalled for another kind of bailout—Christians with impeccably pro-life records who suddenly abandoned what they declared to be a sinking ship.

Read the rest here, if you can take it.

Update: Touchstone mag just really lost me. They, in the same issue as the piece above, published a column that lauded the Harry Potter books. Even worse, it praised the phenomenon they’ve created. I probably still need to blog about my antipathy for those works, but suffice it to say, I think everyone should stick with the Chronicles of Narnia.

A bizarre AP story shows that some “divorcees share houses divided amid foreclosure fears.” The story tells of a “Denver couple [who] divorced after six years of marriage but have been forced to live together for months because they can’t sell their place or afford to set up separate households in this slumping economy.”

Setting aside moral and spiritual implications, wouldn’t it have been easier to stay together and work things out? Read the rest here.

If you’re tired of ESPN’s one-sided analysis of the Big XII South title controversy, my good friend and fellow-blogger, Keith Rogers, makes an excellent case for OU over Texas.

I bought this for my wife for Christmas. Why ruin the surprise with this blog entry? Because we already opened her gift and watched it. (Does that make it “our” gift?)

We can’t decide if Prince Caspian is better than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but they are both simply superb and are must-sees. The action in Caspian is slightly better, but it’s hard to beat the original’s storyline.

Here was my mini-movie review, published last May.

Note: About the title to this entry, I just got used to saying “available on DVD” instead of VHS, and now they invent Blu-ray to confuse this Luddite. Go figure.

“Is it not the great end of religion, and, in particular, the glory of Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the violence, to control the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends; and to render us active and useful in the discharge of the relative social and civil duties? ”

-William Wilberforce

According to the Baptist Press, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) sponsored a bill, which was subsequently signed into law by President Bush, that seeks to protect unborn babies who have been diagnosed with down syndrome or other conditions.

“The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act requires parents who receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or another disability to be provided the latest information regarding the condition and be informed of support services available. The law also establishes a registry of families willing to adopt children with special needs.”

Read more here.

OK, I know there are very few movies about this overlooked holiday, but if you and your family are looking for an informative and entertaining movie over the Thanksgiving break, you cannot do much better than The Mayflower Voyagers.

Then again, with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is pretty classic, as well…

Update: ABC is showing both, as a back-to-back holiday special, at 7 p.m. (CST) this Tuesday, Nov. 25!

Having just finished the work, I estimate otherwise, and believe The Shack could more appropriately be called a pilgrims regression. Why do I say that?

First, while the work paints itself as fiction, it is clearly designed to contain teachings about the nature of God. And it is the author’s (mis)understanding about God—especially the Trinity—that presents the most problems. I do not think it spoils the plot to tell you that, amid a great tragedy, the protagonist meets the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in a remote shack, each of whom is a separate person. The Father (or “Papa” as He is called) manifests Himself as a large, African-American woman with somewhat lacking grammar. The Son, meanwhile, is presented as a sort of fuzzy teddy bear, and the Holy Ghost (also a woman) is nebulous and even apologizes at one point to “Mack,” the main character. There is also a dialogue in which the Holy Spirit is approvingly equated to the legendary American Indian’s Great Spirit.

Read the rest of this entry »

It always amazes me how many versions of the Bible there are to purchase. They come in so many different shapes and sizes.

This latest version, The Green Letter Bible, though, boggles my mind. Essentially, it is produced from all-natural materials, and the ink is made of soy. Where it gets controversial is, instead of highlighting the words of Christ in red, it highlights verses that relate to the environment.

Another red flag for me, so to speak, was that Emerging Church liberal Brian McLaren was part of the project. But decide for yourself.

The Family Research Council thinks so.

A new analysis says, “The traditional, historic, and natural definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman was a winner on Election Day, despite the simultaneous victories for Democrats in capturing the White House and expanding their majority in Congress.”

Read the rest here.

In a key vote that our blog has been following closely, “South Dakota voters once again rejected a proposed law that would have banned most abortions.” Read the rest here.

Also, “Voters [in Washington] approved Initiative 1000, an assisted suicide measure that would make Washington the second state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication for terminally ill patients seeking to hasten their deaths.” If you can take it, read more here.

Lastly, Colorado rejected a pro-life “persohood amendment.” Read about it here.

Happy Election Day, to the brightest readership on the Web.

OK, I’ll admit this is trite to say, but… we implore you to vote today. I’d hasten to remind you not only to vote, but vote pro-life.

May God help us.

“If people want a sense of purpose they should get it from their archbishop. They should certainly not get it from their politicians.”

-the late British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan

A new campaign, “Just One Judge,” is calling on pro-lifers to vote that way next week. View the website here, which argues:

“The next President and U.S. Senate will appoint and confirm the one Justice who will be the deciding vote on whether to overturn Roe v. Wade… Today’s U.S. Supreme Court is just ONE appointment away from determining critical matters of life. Your vote is your choice in who the next Supreme Court Justice will be.”

Looks like you can sign a pledge and join others, including Norma McCorvey (i.e. “Jane Roe” herself).

Randy Alcorn, founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries, has an insightful blog post on Barack Obama’s pro-choice stance. He admits up front, “My blog on Barack Obama’s pro-abortion stance, and the fact that various evangelical Christians are supporting and campaigning for him, has been getting lots of comments, some of them heated.” You can read the rest here, and scroll to the end which has video clips of Obama speaking at a Planned Parenthood event.

If you are weary of abortion being a political litmus test, then I would encourage you to wrestle with this new piece from Touchstone magazine. Here is an excerpt:

“There has been a steady campaign by some Christians who regard themselves as orthodox and conservative to persuade the rank and file of their Christian brothers and sisters to rethink their predictable support for political candidates who are pro-life. They bring other issues to the fore—war, torture, taxes, education, health care, and poverty—in an attempt to undermine the claim that conscientious Christians must always support pro-life candidates. They imply that such ‘single-issue’ pro-life voting is unsophisticated, often in lockstep with the mostly uneducated ‘religious right,’ and perhaps not even very moral in the long view.”

Thursday morning, I will participate in a round-table event to discuss pro-life issues in Oklahoma. The featured guest will be Americans United for Life’s Vice President Daniel McConchie. As you may recall, AUL is the oldest, and in my opinion, perhaps most effective, pro-life law and policy organization in the country.

One of the featured topics will be the future of stem cell research. Later in the day, Mr. McConchie is scheduled to testify before the Oklahoma House of Representatives Health Subcommittee on Thursday, October 16 at 2:30 pm. Mr. McConchie will be addressing the moral and ethical issues surrounding stem cell research.

As we have blogged about before, adult-stem cell research is an exciting field, one that does not pose the moral problems of embryonic stem cell research. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the online resource, Wikipedia, “Religulous is a 2008 American documentary film written by and starring political comedian Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles. According to Maher, the title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words ‘religion’ and ‘ridiculous,’ implying the satirical nature of the documentary that is meant to criticize the concept of religion and the problems it brings about.^“

There is no way I could, in good conscience, justify supporting this movie financially by seeing it. Therefore, there is no way to provide our readers a movie review. So instead I wish to point to the “Bible Answer Man’s” (Hank Hanegraff), who has something to say about this so-called documentary in this brief blog entry.

I was privileged to attend a round-table luncheon this week featuring one of my favorite Christian spokesman, Richard Land. If this name is new to you, I wish to unlock the treasure trove. Feel free to Google him, or start by reading this TIME magazine piece about “God’s lobbyist.”

Dr. Land conversed about the hottest topics, such as the upcoming elections and embryonic stem cell research. When I asked him what he thought William Wilberforce, one of his heroes as well as mine, would think are the most pressing issues of the day, he answered: “The pro-life question and the definition of marriage.” I quite agree.

In fact, there was really only one issue on which Dr. Land and I cannot agree. He, a Texan, wants the Longhorns to win in the Red River match this weekend. To that I say, “Go Sooners!”

Update: Richard Land’s public policy group, the Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission, has produced an impressive “party-platform” guide for 2008. Find out more here about this nonpartisan resource.

Who do you think would win in a fight between actors Richard Gere and Kirk Cameron? I tend to think Cameron, and I certainly hope his love story movie will prevail over Gere’s at the box office this weekend.

You see, each stars in a new movie, specifically a love story. While Gere has the promotional engine of Hollywood in his corner, Cameron has had the support of Evangelical churches, which gives him a fighting change.

One of the many glowing secular reviews of Gere’s says in “‘Nights in Rodanthe,’ based on another highly adaptable romance novel by Nicholas Sparks (“The Notebook”), we witness a couple of middle-age characters slowly getting a life after denying themselves one for many years.”

As best as I can tell, this is a story of two married adults seeing each other outside of the bonds of their own marriages. So here we apparently have yet another film begging the viewer to root for an inappropriate romance. Meanwhile, in the Dallas Morning News, Kirk Cameron talks about his role in Fireproof, that I previously reviewed. OK, I’ve admitted I’m rooting for Kirk. For whom will you root with your movie ticket dollars?

Here are the foremost social conservative politician’s thoughts are the current financial storm.

“Frankly, I’m disappointed and disgusted with my own Republican party as I watch them attempt to strong-arm a bailout of some of America’s biggest corporations by asking the taxpayers to suck up the staggering results of the hubris, greed, and arrogance of those who sought to make a quick buck by throwing the dice. They lost, but want the rest of us to cover their bets so they won’t be effected in their lavish lifestyles as they figure out how to spend their tens of millions and in some cases, hundreds of millions in bonuses and compensation which was their reward for not only sinking their companies, but basically doing the same to the entire American economy.”

Read the rest here.

The indispensable Christian journal, First Things, has an important piece on the subject. It begins, “Mormonism has been much in the news over the past year. The presidential campaign of Mitt Romney was the principal reason, though there were other causes as well: the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to become the fourth-largest denomination in the United States, for instance, and the prominence of Harry Reid as Senate majority leader. The total number of news articles devoted to the church in the past year more than doubled the previous high, reached during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.”

In another portion, one of the piece’s two authors, Gerald R. McDermott, continues: “Most Christians say Mormonism is not Christian—though their reasons are sometimes awkward.”

Read the rest here.

I just heard about a new book on apologetics, When God Goes to Starbucks. Meanwhile, I am reading a rejoinder to Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great. Written by Christian author Douglas Wilson, the book (which is more of a pamphlet) is called “God Is,” and offers a brief answer to each of Hitchens’ main points.

I bring these book titles up to say, in this age of so-called New Atheists and constant gratuitous broadsides to the historic Christian faith, apologetics appears to be more important than ever.

This quote is from Al Mohler’s blog:

Speaking Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for Vice President, made headlines by stating that he accepts “as a matter of faith” that human life begins at conception, but he would not impose that view on others as a matter of law. Sen. Biden’s statement is similar in form to those offered by other Catholic politicians like former New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

Biden’s remark, which made Mohler think of Cuomo, made me think of another New York politician who thinks likewise. During his bid for President, Rudy Giuliani explained his pro-choice stance to include that he “hated abortion.”

This line of thinking is what the pro-life debaters, such as Stand to Reason’s Gregory Koukl calls, “personally opposed to abortion.” Koukl reminds pro-life spokesmen to follow up these kinds of statements with, “Why are you personally opposed?” Or, “Why do you hate abortion?” Their answer almost invariably is, “Because it takes a life.”

By taking them to the logical end of their position, I have even known some to abandon the “personally opposed” position for the solid ground of “personally opposed and publicly opposed.”

Friends, there are two upcoming opportunities in central Oklahoma to take a stand for life.

(1) A Walk for Life in Norman, Oklahoma, on Saturday, September 27. You may find information about this walk, which benefits the crisis pregnancy center in Norman, by clicking here. Or you could always sponsor yours truly, Brian Hobbs, who will be walking for life, by clicking here.

(2) 40 Days for Life… is a peaceful prayer vigil held in the Oklahoma City area, praying for an end to abortion. Check out this national effort, which has been endorsed by heavyweights like Fr. Frank Pavone, here.

Thanks for taking a stand for life.

Next month, the greatest professor in Oklahoma (and the country for that matter) will be delivering five lectures on America’s Legacy of Freedom. “Internationally distinguished scholar and author, Dr. J. Rufus Fears, will present the series beginning Sept. 8.” Click here to read more.

I have heard it said that (in addition to reading the Bible), one should always be starting, in the middle-of, or finishing a good book.

Today, I began reading, Creating the Better Hour: Lessons from William Wilberfoce. The work–which is a collection of essays on the man–is so far superb. As a bonus, it contains a brief foreword from Pastor Rick Warren, who once again, did a stand-up job during the recent presidential forum.

John McCain and Barack Obama will be on stage for the first time in a live forum moderated by Pastor Rick Warren.

Tune in to CNN on Saturday night 7 p.m. (CST).

Any predictions on what questions Warren will ask?

Update: Well, did you get to watch the debate? If not, here are some hightlihghts. Rick Warren came through, as he brought up the most seminal policy debate in Amercia: the pro-life question. From all I can tell, McCain won over the audience and, in this blogger’s opinion, the forum.

One of my favorite conservatives from one of my favorite, though least well-known, think tanks has an important piece this week. Ken Connor (formerly of the Family Research Council) and his Center for a Just Society have distributed, “How to Produce Real Change.” It begins:

“Change! It’s the mantra of the political season.  But what kind of change—from what to what?”

Connor then pulls lessons from one of the greatest reformers of all time, William Wilberforce. Click here to read the piece. You’ll be very glad you did.

Dear Readers,

You may already be aware that over the weekend, one of the greatest writers, thinkers and Christians–Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn–passed away. All the free world owes a great debt of gratitude to this man, whose abounding contributions brought freedom and honored God. Here is a sampling of his genius, a speech he delivered at Harvard University nearly 20 years ago.

Update: Chuck Colson here offers a must-read about this giant, “Jeremiah at Harvard: Three decades after Solzhenitsyn’s speech, where do we find ourselves?”

In 11th grade English, we had to write an essay on our favorite invention. At the time, I selected, if memory serves me correctly, the air conditioner. Even with the record heat we are seeing, I would like to change my vote to the Ultrasound machine. Not only have my wife and I personally enjoyed the benefits of this technology, it has given the pro-life cause an enormous boost.

Today’s edition of The Oklahoman has an interesting story on how getting Ultrasound photos is quite fashionable. There is a story, unfortunately, published right by it questioning the safety of recreational Ultrasound. Nevertheless, the trend is in our favor, and I stand by amending my (mediocre) high school essay.

Today, July 29, is voting day for the Oklahoma primaries. The polls are open 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. If my experience at the polls is at all telling, it is going to be light turnout today, even though a U.S. Senate seat and other important offices are at stake.

Of course, Pilgrims Progress readers are just about the brightest in the country, so you probably knew this already.

If you do not know to whom I refer, count yourself lucky. Mr. Tolle is the New Age spiritual rock star created by Oprah Winfrey who likes to quote Jesus. In an important piece, Christianity Today magazine explores the answer to the question I pose in the title of this post. Read it here.

NewsOK.com has a very important interview with the greatest professor in Oklahoma and the country, Dr. J. Rufus Fears. If you have heard Dr. Fears speak even once, then you are bound to click on the link here.

If you are not, please drop whatever you are doing and listen to him discuss the superb art exhibit on ancient Rome now in Oklahoma City. Wait for the end, when you will hear Dr. Fears reveal the most important legacy of the Roman Empire, which may surprise you.

“The righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and mercy God justifies us by faith. I felt myself reborn! … The passage of Paul became my gate to heaven … Works do make one righteous. Righteousness creates good works.”

-Martin Luther

National Review has an insightful piece about the struggle going on inside the United Methodist Denomination. Below are some excerpts from the piece, which centers around Hillary’s long-standing membership in the UMC:

This pervasive advocacy for legalized abortion is one of the reasons Hillary says with a smile, “I’m comfortable in this church.” But Hillary Clinton may begin to feel less comfortable. The UMC recently concluded its 2008 General Conference — Hillary has addressed the conference in the past — where it made some positive steps back from the abyss of the Culture of Death advanced by its most liberal members.

Among the steps taken was a statement encouraging the church to “assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion.” The conference made some important changes in language, deleting a previous assertion that advocating legalized abortion was “in continuity with past Christian teaching,” and even adding a sentence informing Methodists that they are “bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and unborn child.”

Read the rest here, and pay notice to the important positive role the Methodists in Africa are playing.

Last night, I had the unique privilege of taking my wife to a sneak preview of the movie, Fireproof. If you are familiar with the movie, Facing the Giants, you may have known about this forthcoming release. Here is my brief take on it.

What to like

Two words: Kirk Cameron. OK, I’ll admit: Left Behind: The Movie left a bad taste in my mouth, but he more than redeemed himself is his role as “Captain Caleb Holt,” a firefighter who struggles to keep alive the cooling embers of his marriage.

If I had to place the movie in a single genre, it is a love story. It is not, however, a so-called (and I really dislike this term) “chick flick,” like You’ve Got Mail. But unlike that, it can put wind in your sails if you are (or hope to be) married. Further, the movie had plenty of comic relief and some good, hearty masculine aggressiveness. The movie contains some tense scenes and some violence (which I think can be a good thing), which may make it not for children. Yet it did not have profanity or inappropriate content, which is a huge plus.

What critics won’t like

With the exception of Cameron, the actors in the movie are amateurs. It shows in only a few parts though, and all of the main actors were good. And that is point two: it is a movie in pursuit of goodness, not beauty. In other words, it was more like a good meal from Chick-Fil-A than a fine French restaurant. But that’s okay by me and it achieves the goals it sets out for itself. I mean, this film isn’t supposed to win an Oscar, it is supposed to help change lives and thus the culture. Finally, many will see the film as more of a sermon than a movie, and I will be the first to admit that it is a heavy-handed presentation of the Gospel. Of course, isn’t that our call as Evangelical Christians, to engage the culture and present Christ to all?

Overall

I give this movie two enthusiastic thumbs up, and I will be encouraging my Evangelical brethren (and neighbors) to see it come September 26. My movie date dubbed it “simply awesome,” and I would agree.

For more information or to see the trailer, visit the movie’s website.

The Iowa Independent has published an open letter to Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama. The powerful piece, which has an Oklahoma connection, begins:

You recently spoke with Cameron Strang, publisher of Relevant magazine. During that interview, Strang asked if you could clarify your position on “third-trimester and partial-birth abortion,” and you replied:

“…I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that “mental distress” qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions.”

Your response leads me to believe that you’ve either never had a one-on-one discussion with a woman who has had a late-term abortion, or that you’ve been too uncomfortable to ask such a woman difficult questions concerning not only the procedure but what led her to make that choice. Because a president needs to be given as much first-hand knowledge as possible as he develops policy, I’d like to help remedy this deficiency.

Thirteen years ago I had a late term abortion.That’s the concise sentence I use when I don’t want to talk about what really happened.

Me: You may or may not want to read the rest of this gripping, heart-breaking story here. But I certainly hope the Senator reads it.

… for John McCain’s running mate, as their latest feature column attests.

It turns out, though, at least 90 Evangelical leaders do. And I suspect there are many more in the pews who are like them.

On behalf of the Pilgrim’s Progress bloggers, I say: May you and your family have a very blessed Fourth of July. And may the Lord make us ever more grateful for the nation in which we live.

Earlier this week, I blogged about some good news in the pro-life cause, in the form of a Dallas, Texas, abortion clinic that closed. Then comes this bad news from Albert Mohler’s blog, which shows our opposition is clever, well-funded, and on-the-move.

It sometimes seems as though each time we see progress in one area, we see setbacks in another. Consider how some statistics show surgical abortions are on the decline in America, but chemical abortions are on the rise, due in part to the advent of the “morning-after pill,” Plan B, and the RU-486 drug.

But take heart, this is just one more reason to pray and work more fervently toward a culture of life.

I just received good news, my friends:

“In what pro-life advocates have described as nothing other than the miraculous work of God, a series of abortion clinics throughout Dallas have closed down after a prominent bishop began leading prayers for their closure 18 years ago.”

“Since Bishop Charles Grahmann of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas first began leading his monthly prayer vigils outside the doors of abortion clinics over a decade ago, seven of the 13 abortion clinics in Dallas have closed, including, most recently, the only late term abortion clinic that deprived life to babies over 3 months old.” Read more here.

This just goes to show that we Christians–Evangelicals and Catholics together–can accomplish great things, united in the Lord, to Whom we give the praise for this victory.

Check out the bad news from this AP story, which shows relativism is alive and kicking within the Church today. I just rue the near inevitable successor to it: the arrival of nihilism.

“America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don’t feel their religion is the only way to eternal life — even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.”

“The findings, released Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don’t know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.”

“Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attendees said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.”

Whether reading books from Emergent Church writers, or visiting the local Christian bookstore, you may have run across a title for Jesus that I have not yet found in the Bible. “Leader.” I came across a new blog today, linked from ChristianityToday.com, that bemoans the title:

“Beware of any literature that starts with these words: ‘Jesus was the greatest leader of all time.’ The sentiment behind those words may be true, but the point they make is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if Jesus was the greatest leader of all time. Jesus is our leader (and, in a holy sense, we’re stuck with him).”

“The issue at hand is far from nit-picky. Evangelicals have long been accused of domesticating Jesus—making him one of “us” (often white, middle-class, socially respectable, and politically conservative). The glut of Jesus-as-leader books runs a tremendous risk as it attempts to introduce Jesus into the economy that surrounds 21st century leadership.”

Read the rest here.

You may recall me noting that last week, I attended the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis. This week, The Weekly Standard, has an important piece about us. Entitled, “The Dwindling Baptists? Not Really,” the piece starts this way:

ARE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS “dwindling”? Recent headlines about the annual meeting of the 16.27 million member Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) refer to its ostensible struggles with membership decline. Having lost 40,000 members last year, America’s second biggest religious body was described as “dwindling” by a Washington Post headline, which other media echoed.

In contrast to Mainline Protestant denominations like Episcopalians and Presbyterians, the SBC is overwhelmingly conservative. During the 1980s, conservative Baptists, derided as “fundamentalists” by critics, were alarmed by liberal inroads and solidified their governance of church agencies and seminaries. Southern Baptist and other evangelical churches have enjoyed almost unfettered growth in recent decades, while the once dominant Mainline denominations are now in their fifth decade of decline.

Read the rest here.

[hat tip: JR]

In about twenty four hours, I plan to attend a lunch briefing featuring pro-tax-cut activist, Grover Norquist. He is perhaps most famous for forging the ‘Leave-Us-Alone Coalition,’ a “description of a hoped-for reality of cooperation between social conservatives, libertarians / free market supporters, and various single-issue voters such as gun rights supporters.”

The title of his new book, Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government’s Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives, says it all. Yet as a so-called one-issue voter (i.e. pro-life), I find myself increasingly uncertain as to what his philosophy has to say on pro-life issues and progress.

That may be a good question to ask Mr. Norquist.

While I was at the annual SBC meeting in Indianapolis, I was pumped to discover my favorite Christian scholar, Timothy Paul Jones (an Okie, by the way), would be signing his latest book.

To tell you the truth, I wasn’t all that jazzed about Dr. Jones’ new book, but I bought one nonetheless. Boy, am I glad I did. In it, he twists so-called Christian skeptics into an intellectual pretzel, in his usual engaging style. The book is summarized here:

“So far, the twenty-first century has been rough on Jesus. Theories that have been swirling around for hundreds of years claiming to discredit His life have suddenly become hot again. None of these theories are completely new. In fact, the hundreds of books, movies, and other reconstructions simply recycle the “top ten” conspiracies. Timothy Paul Jones has researched them all and discovered there is no reason to fear these skeptical reconstructions of Jesus. When subjected to actual historical evidences, each conspiracy crumbles beneath the weight of its own overblown claims.”

It is a must-read, which I try not to say too often. Shortly after meeting Dr. Jones, I took advantage of the long afternoon break to see another Dr. Jones, the new Indiana Jones movie. Something about seeing it in Indiana made it better than it otherwise would have. I give it 3 stars (out of 4). Is it a must-see? Probably, though not nearly as much as Prince Caspian.

So I am writing this post from Indianapolis, where the annual meeting of the SBC is going on. This is my first year to attend and first year to serve as a messenger (i.e. delegate) for my church.

If you are pretty connected in Baptist circles, you may have already heard that the new SBC president will be Johnny Hunt. In addition to the winner (who received 52% of the vote), there were five other candidates for the position, all of whom appear to be conservatives in every sense.

The conference, which is attended by more than 7,000 Baptists from all over the map, has included big name speakers like Al Mohler and Paige Patterson. After tonight’s dinner break, Dr. Richard Land is set to speak.

The resolutions committee meets tomorrow, so things could get even more interesting there. Until next time …

Operation Rescue, no stranger to bad press, has posted some photographs of our neighboring state Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (who by the way, is rumored to be in the Veepstakes for Sen. Obama), with one of the most notorious late-term abortionists in the country, George Tiller. Yikes.

In Numbers 12, the Bible calls Moses was the meekest (or most humble) man in all the earth. We also know that Moses himself composed the Book of Numbers. Here you have a rare case in which someone became aware of their humble nature and yet somehow retained it.

Recall in his masterpiece, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says, “The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

He goes on to say, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

I may have stumbled upon two other Christians who have realized the danger of pride, but are calling for wearing the badge of humilty. The first is the author of this book who calls for “humble apologetics,” the second is this group calling for “a humble orthodoxy.”

I apologize for the delay in blogging, but I went on a nice fishing trip with the family. A bit of personal news: my best friend and his wife just had their (second) child, a baby boy, today. Ultimately, that is just about the most pro-life thing you can do.

If you are an avid reader of this blog, you would know that America’s abortion laws are some of the least restrictive in the world. You would likewise know that Britain has far more restrictive laws, and tonight, those could become even better.

This evening, Members of Parliament “will debate a cut in the time-limit for abortion from 24 to 20 weeks.” Notice that even the debate is on “when” not if to restriction abortion, which is impressive. Though it probably should not surprise me that the nation that abolished slavery without an epic war is working their way toward abolishing abortion-on-demand before we do.

Hat tip on the story: JR

Update: If you thought Britain as a whole was good, northern Ireland has it even better. In the land of strife between Catholics and Protestants, there is one thing they can agree on.

So I just saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, “a 2008 fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the … published novel in C. S. Lewis’ children’s fantasy series.”

I give it four stars (out of four), and you could make a good case for it being better than the first movie. Having just read the book, it was obvious where the differences were. As a non-purist though, I was not annoyed and rather liked the adaption for the silver screen. The acting was superb, as the children were even better than in The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe. The action was intense, and the storyline beat the pants off any Harry Potter movie (not that I have seen all of them).

If you’re looking for a good movie to see this week, while the showings of Indiana Jones 4 are sold out, you owe it to yourself to see this one.

“The country’s leading abortion provider celebrated Mother’s Day by asking for donations in honor of mothers. Inconceivable, you might say—not if it is Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA).” Read more here.

By any standard, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was one of the most important figures of the 20^th Century. His writings and Christlike example are remarkable.

To explain his rarity, Solzhenitsyn’s Thursday, June 8, 1978 Commencement Address at Harvard University gives us an example of one of the only good commencement addresses on record. Moreover, it provides one of the most thoughtful indictments of our western culture, which comes “ not from an adversary but a friend,” one who knew firsthand the tortures and evils of life in the communist Soviet Union.

“A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society. Of course, there are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life.”

Find the entire speech here.

One of my favorite think tanks, the Claremont Institute in California, has published two of the most important essays you can read concerning young men and women in American today.

‘Wimps and Barbarians: The Sons of Murphy Brown,’ follows the growing up of the fictional boy, “Avery, son of Murphy Brown,” and uses him as a springboard to warn against the two dangers for young men in America. You may recall, “Television’s Murphy Brown, played by Candice Bergen, was a successful news commentator who, after an unsuccessful relationship with a man that left her alone and pregnant, bore a son out of wedlock. The event, popular enough in its own right, became the center of political controversy when then Vice President Dan Quayle in a speech to the Commonwealth Club of California lamented that the show was ‘mocking the importance of a father.’”

The sister piece is entitled simply, ‘Heathers Compromise.’ It begins, “If we imagine that the decline of boys into wimps and barbarians has led inversely and categorically to the rise of girls, we would be gravely mistaken.”

Each piece does a superb job of showing what type of child, after years of rearing, you would not want to produce. Further, it points up the need for knowing what type of boy or girl you would like to raise, the golden mean between the extremes. In this writer’s case, that golden mean would be Christian Ladies and Gentlemen. That goal is easier said than done, but it is nice to at least have the goal.

Further suggested reading: ‘Dan Quayle Was Right‘ by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead.

There is little question in my mind that the 50s in America were a better time, in terms of social goodness and a thriving Christianity, than the decades following. A new piece in the superb journal, Touchstone Magazine, though, provides a provocative look back into that oft-lauded time and asks a few probing questions, such as:

“Are the 1950s in any way a useful model for American Christians of the twenty-first century? Would we like to go back? Would it be better, for instance, if the movie moguls returned to producing religious epics like The Ten Commandments, with their earnest depictions of the power of God? Would the renewal of prayers before football games in any way strengthen the fabric of public life?”

Their answer might surprise you. Read the feature here.

From an AP news story: “Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word ‘evangelical’ has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.”

“The statement, called ‘An Evangelical Manifesto,’ condemns Christians on the right and left for ‘using faith’ to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.”

It looks like some heavy hitters have signed the document, such as Os Guiness and Rick Warren.

Update: Al Mohler has an important analysis of the manifesto. Also, I discovered that one of my favorite Christian thinkers of our day–and one of the most underrated–Timothy George, has signed the manifesto.

Do you recall ever hearing about Richard Niebuhr’s classic, Christ and Culture? It
outlines the five prevalent ways Christians have interacted with culture:

• Christ against Culture
• Christ of Culture
• Christ above Culture
• Christ and Culture in Paradox
• Christ Transforming Culture.

I am pumped to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, “a 2008 fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published novel in C. S. Lewis’ children’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia.”

This promises to be a good example of how (Christian) works can attempt to transform culture, not merely oppose the bad already out there.

What would William Wilberforce do? That is a question that oft runs through my mind, and that was a fulcrum in this intriguing interview between Christianity Today and the evangelical Rev. Jim Wallis. It reads in part:

CT: You repeatedly cite William Wilberforce as someone who did Christian political engagement right. But aren’t your views on abortion—”protecting unborn life in every possible way, but without criminalizing abortion”—fundamentally at odds with Wilberforce’s efforts to totally abolish slavery? He felt that “protecting slaves” without criminalizing slavery was unjust.

Wallis: The abortion debate has really gotten very stale. It’s a symbolic legal battle that takes place mostly only in election years. And it’s a litmus test on the Left and the Right. No one seems to care about the abortion rate. The Republicans want a constitutional amendment banning abortion. That’s just symbolic. It’s never going to happen in America. And even if you do ban it, you’re still going to have a huge problem in the culture.

Read the rest here.

Just received the good news: the state house voted 81-15 to override the veto! According to The Oklahoman, this is “the first veto override of Henry since he took office in 2003.” The Legislators made it a good one.

News reports confirm: “The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday voted to override Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of a controversial abortion bill.” … “The vote to override was 37 to 11. It takes 32 votes in the Senate to override the veto. Efforts to override the bill, Senate Bill 1878, now go to the House.”

Sen. Todd Lamb, the bill’s author, promised the public quick action in overriding the veto. I guess he wasn’t kidding around.

Oklahomans for Life, one of the pro-life lobby groups for the Sooner State, had this to say about the Governor’s veto. When the BGCO’s Ray Sanders returns back to earth from (rightly) being sent into orbit by Henry’s veto, I plan to try find and post his remarks, as well.

Meanwhile, Gov. Henry issued the following statement: “This is to advise you that on this date, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 11 and 12 of Article VI of the Oklahoma Constitution to approve or object to legislation presented to me, I have VETOED Senate Bill 1878. While I support reasonable restrictions on abortion, this legislation does not provide an essential exemption for victims of rape and incest. By forcing the victims of such horrific acts to undergo and view ultrasounds after they have made such a difficult and heartbreaking decision, the state victimizes the victim for a second time. It would be unconscionable to subject victims of rape and incest to such treatment. Because of this critical flaw, I cannot in good conscience sign this legislation.”

Me: I seem to recall reading in the Scriptures that we should not punish the child for the sins of the father, so to use the oldest play in the pro-choice playbook (i.e. playing the rape card) is probably lazy, not to mention simplistic, muddled-thinking. That aside, read the reaction from the bill’s author and other voices in the debate here.

“Gov. Brad Henry tonight vetoed a bill that would have required health care providers to give a woman an ultrasound of her unborn child before an abortion,” reported The Oklahoman. “The measure, Senate Bill 1878, also was intended to protect health care providers’ right to refuse to participate in abortions and to decide whether to dispense a pill to end early pregnancies.”

Read the rest here.

That is the title of the cover story in Newsweek. The piece follows the story of “Grant High School’s class of ’82…” who “were raised on ‘The Brady Bunch’—while their own families were falling apart.” The piece contains this shocking fact, “… divorce rates had soared to their highest level ever, with 5.3 per 1,000 people getting divorced each year, more than double the rate in the 1950s.”

You know family breakdown is getting bad when such secular sources recognize the problem. A prescription for Oklahoma is found in this op-ed Mike Jestes and I co-authored that recently appeared in The Oklahoman.

‘New Abortion Bill Headed to Governor’s Desk,’ a NewsOk.com headline reads.

The story says, “State senators overwhelmingly passed an anti-abortion bill today that protects health-care providers’ rights to refuse to take part in abortions, regulates the so-called morning after pill and provides a woman with an ultrasound of her unborn child prior to her abortion.”

“Senators accepted the House’s amendments to Senate Bill 1878 by Sen. Todd Lamb and then gave final passage to the measure 38-10.”

You may recall me mentioning this bill before. Since that time, I have spoken to a few pro-life medical professionals, including a pharmacist and an OBGYN, who say this would be a huge step. The story added, “Lamb said the bill is sound, strong, good family policy.” I quite agree.

Note: The last time pro-life legislation went to the Governor’s desk, he did not sign in but allowed it to become law by letting the allotted time to veto it pass.

Last night in Norman, I attended a banquet featuring pro-life warrior Star Parker. You may be aware that Parker is “an African American woman, [who] spent her formative years as an unemployed mother receiving welfare; she was arrested in her teens for shoplifting and has disclosed that she had four abortions. Parker converted to Christianity and subsequently became a spokeswoman for conservative Christian political issues.”

This redeemed woman told her powerful story at a benefit for the Eden Clinic (formerly Care Net Pregnancy Center of Norman), a crisis pregnancy center doing the important work of saving lives and sharing Christ. Parker asked the attendees to financially contribute to the center, and invest in their good work.

If for no other reason, pro-lifers should invest because of how much funding the opposition gets. In an e-mail this week from the Family Research Council, new reports show “Planned Parenthood has surpassed the $1 billion mark in annual income, a milestone made possible by $336 million of your tax dollars.”

In 2007, the courageous Congressman Mike Pence, R-Indiana, offered an amendment to prohibit taxpayer dollars from being used to fund Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately, it “failed on a 189-to-231 roll call vote.” Pro-Choice America said at the time, “Rep. Mike Pence (RIN) and other anti-choice representatives tried to defund Planned Parenthood – the nation’s largest network of reproductive health providers – by banning the organization from participating in the Title X family-planning program.” The group then boasted, “Thankfully, the effort failed.”

At the banquet, Eden officials reported of the positive and professional services they offer women in a crisis pregnancy, such as STD testing, an ultra-sound, counseling, and materials goods. They do not charge for most of their services, and subsist on private donations from those who believe in their work. Clinics like Eden do not receive federal funds.

In this epic struggle for life, I would encourage each of us to ponder where our dollars are going. For where your treasure is ….

At risk of spoiling some April Fool’s jokes, I give you the verse for this week.

“Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, Is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, “I was only joking!”
Proverbs 26:18-19 (NKJV)

This debate, set to take place next month in OKC, looks quite interesting.

“Grace Bible Church of Oklahoma City announces the 2007 Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield Lecture Series featuring a debate on The Christian’s Final Authority: The Bible or The Church? Father Mitchell Pacwa and Dr. Eric Svendsen will engage this timely question. The debate will be held Friday, May 18 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Meinders School of Business of Oklahoma City University located at N.W. 27th and McKinley Avenue on the eastern edge of the OCU campus. This debate is open to the public free of charge.”

“Fr. Pacwa will represent the position that the Roman Catholic Church is the only infallible interpreter of Scripture or Sola Ecclesia Romanus. Dr. Svendsen will contend for Scripture alone as the final authority for the believer or Sola Scriptura.”

My only question: who’s going to represent the third way, “prima scriptura“?

Update: As it turns out, the debate to which I referred took place last year (it’s no wonder my critics say I’m stuck in the past). THIS year’s lecture series will feature Gene Edward Veith on “The Church and Culture,” and will take place on Friday, May 9. Dr. Veith, whom I admire (and who is a native Oklahoman by the way), will be superb. Click here for details, and I apologize for the confusion.

In honor of our Lord, I wanted to post some of the words from one of the best hymns in the Baptist Hymnal, “The Old Rugged Cross.”

Verse 1
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suffring and shame; And I love that old cross where the dearest and best For a world of lost sinners was slain.

Verse 4
To the old rugged cross, I will ever be true, Its shame and reproach gladly bear; Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away, Where His glory forever I’ll share.

Chorus
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.

Now ponder the words from “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed”:

Verse 1
Alas, and did my Savior bleed And did my Sov’reign die? Would He devote that sacred head For sinners such as I?

Verse 2
Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown, And love beyond degree!

Verse 4
But drops of grief can ne’er repay The debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘Tis all that I can do.

A Christian leader I greatly admire has a new book out. Chuck Colson has penned The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe it, and Why it Matters. I have not yet read it, but after coming across two interviews with him about the book, one with Newsweek and one on the Bible Answer Man Program, I just had to order it.

Of course, I cannot say until I actually read it through, but the book appears to closely parallel my favorite of the early Church’s creeds, The Nicene Creed.

Here is the teaser: “The word ‘Christianity’ conjures up many pictures, depending on who defines it. But Chuck Colson asserts that the faith ‘given once for all’ is an invitation to a wonderful vision of life, open to all who will come. The Faith invites all who will — whether believers or skeptics — to explore the basic doctrines of Christianity and find out for themselves what it really means to be called a disciple of Christ — and how to live as a disciple.”

In an age in which doctrine is becoming increasingly unfashionable within Christian circles (and increasingly more necessary to combat error), this sounds like just the book that was needing to be written. So thanks, Chuck!

I once drove by a billboard with that profound message. It now appears that the prestigious Royal College of Psychiatrists agrees, at least with the latter portion.

A friend passed along a news story from The Times, “Women may be at risk of mental health breakdowns if they have abortions, a medical royal college has warned. The Royal College of Psychiatrists says women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health.” Read more here.

This piece is one small part of the larger raging debate going on in Britain whether to limit “abortions… from 24 weeks to 20 weeks.”If you are an avid reader of this blog, you would know that Britain along with almost every other nation in the world has more restrictive abortion laws than do we.

It’s going to take more than slogans and billboards to change this. What can you do?

According to a news source, “Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a prominent United States advocate for the right-to-die for terminally ill patients via physician-assisted suicide, stated on Wednesday that he intends to run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.”

“‘We need some honesty and sincerity instead of corrupt government in Washington,’ Dr. Kevorkian said while announcing his bid to represent Michigan‘s 9th congressional district.” In an age in which we need more right-to-life candidates, we get this.

The piece added, “He was released [from prison] in June of 2007 on parole due to good behavior.” I am persuaded by the argument that we should give criminals more time for bad behavior, not less for so-called good behavior. But I digress, as this news story is twisted enough.

According to a new Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission e-mail update: “The state Senate will vote this week on pro-life SB 1878, The Freedom of Conscience Act, which would protect health care professionals’ right to refuse to participate in the taking of an innocent human life.”

“In addition, the Oklahoma House of Representatives will vote this week on pro-life HB 3144, providing a woman an ultrasound of her unborn child which she may view prior to undergoing an abortion.”

I consider myself a conservative and 100% pro-life, but I am always excited to see groups and leaders who are of various political stripes speak out for life.

For starters, consider this rousing speech by Australian politician Christopher Pyne, a Liberal (capital ‘L’) member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993. [Click here and look for his "Speech to Right to Life Convention].

In other parts of the Anglosphere, our friends across the pond have an interesting petition drive: http://www.aliveandkickingcampaign.org/.

Then at home, there is the 95-10 Initiative launched by ‘Democrats for Life’ that is: “a comprehensive package of federal legislation and policy proposals that will reduce the number of abortions by 95% in the next 10 years.” Of course, that initiative was launched three years ago, so I guess it should be called the 95-7 initiative.

“Are you pro-life?” is often a question you hear. However, it usually inquires as to what one thinks, not does. I recently read a pamphlet, though, that is asking its readers to turn their beliefs into to action. “52 Simple Things You can Do to Be Pro-Life,” by Anne Pierson, is well worth the time.

It lists simple actions we can take, such as:

[ ] wearing the “feet pin,” the universal symbol for life

[ ] marching in a parade for life

[ ] babysitting for a single mother

[ ] writing a letter to the editor

[ ] giving financially to crisis pregnancy centers

[ ] volunteering your time for a crisis pregnancy center

[ ] holding a baby shower for a crisis pregnancy center

[ ] and most importantly prayer.

Many of the 52 action items listed I had already done, yet a majority I have yet to do. Some actions were in between. For instance, I have prayed for the pro-life cause, but have I truly prayed with enough fervor? Finally, the document listed a handful of not-so-easy pro-life actions, such as adoption, running for office or embarking on a new career within the pro-life movement.

At any rate, this publication provides a good opportunity to pause and take note of whether we simply believe pro-life, or are actually doing something about it.

Are you familiar with the Internet content filter, BSafe? If not, you should check it out, as it’s the best, Jerry, the best.

However, I was disappointed to discover that the filter blocks our blog, and plan to plead our case to the forces that be. That aside, I am a huge proponent of putting a filter on every computer, be it BSafe or another software.

In this dark age, we Christians must go out of our way to protect our children, our marriages, and our God-given purity. And if that means missing a few worthy blogs, so be it. After all, what profit it a man to gain the whole World Wide Web and lose his soul?

Update: Shortly after my post was published, the BSafe people contacted me and indicated that the reason our site was blocked is because it fell under the “Free Host” category, which are notoriously salacious and difficult to monitor. They agreed, however, to change our status to “Opinion” and therefore allow BSafe subscribers to read this blog. Just when I thought my estimation of their company could not go any higher, they do this.

Stand to Reason’s Gregory Koukl has an insightful monologue on the claim “Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.”“This slogan has been a rallying cry of 1970′s and 80′s evangelicalism,” said Koukl. The emphasis on having “a relationship with God,” I think, is a new phenomenon coming out of the sixties. It smacks of T-groups and sensitivity training, emphasizing freedom and feeling rather than form and content.”

“The crux here is what is meant by the words “religion” and “relationship.” If “religion” means a body of truth pertaining to God and the afterlife and the unseen world, combined with a way of life informed by that truth, and a community of faith seeking to follow that way of life, then Christianity certainly is a religion.”

Click here to read the rest. It appears what Koukl maintains is that Christianity is both a religion and a relationship.

I’ve been arguing this for some time now and am glad to see someone of such stature is on the same page. Too bad I’m not in the bumper sticker business. I could have been a millionaire, Jerry, I could have been a bumper sticker millionaire.

Special Note: This is my second post to the two other contributors zero. This should provoke them to jealousy (i.e. wanting or fearing losing something to which one has a right), as opposed to envy (i.e. wanting something to which you do not have a right.)

Earlier this week, I read a news story that the oldest pro-life action group, Americans United for Life, did a state-by-state ranking in terms of pro-life friendly climates. I was discouraged to find Oklahoma not near the top (and confused to find our neighbors, Kansas and Texas).

My jealously was relieved a bit, however, when I heard of some pro-life progress at 23^rd and Lincoln. Another respected pro-life group, Oklahomans for Life, sent a release today that said in part: “Following approval by the Senate Rules Committee, the full Senate will vote soon on Senator Todd Lamb’s pro-life SB 1878. The Freedom of Conscience Act would protect health care professionals’ right to refuse to participate in the taking of an innocent human life.”

That was an important first hurdle to clear for the Wilberforcean Sen. Lamb. Stay tuned for more good news, and for why I used the word “jealously” not “envy” in the headline.