In what Ricky Gervais (creator of the TV series The Office) calls his defining moment, he explains how after being asked by his older brother at the age of eight “Why do you believe in God?”, he had a crisis of faith and ”within an hour…was an atheist.” Short read straight from the horse’s mouth.
He lists the gifts of atheism as “truth, science, nature…the real beauty of this world.” Also, notice the filename of the image to which the above link takes you is named “bestlife.” Very interesting and ironic.
Look, the road is narrow and hard to find With secret battles inside our minds Who can last God we need your strength to find Your light to guide us into the night You’re our only chanceMessiah, Messiah, Messiah save us
Run, I want to run to your open hand But father I can barely stand On my own Now, like the children of Abraham We’re reaching out for the promised land For our home
After the Superbowl is over and everybody’s amazed at how quickly the winning team is presented with victory apparel, one wonders where the “winning” shirts and hats end up (if the other team had won). Well, wonder no longer! World Vision takes that stuff and hands it out to people who don’t make millions a year and who could actually use a free t-shirt and hat. Yahoo’s got the story and may God get the glory.
Maybe they should just skip handing stuff out at the Superbowl and immediately after the game, go live to a place with people in need of clothing and start handing the stuff out there instead of even bothering with the millionaires. What a concept, giving hand-outs to people that actually need them? Oh but wait, you’re right, you might not get as big a return on your hand-outs if you give them to people who have nothing to give you in return but thankfulness and a warm smile? Would that that were the currency.
phil-omni-glot (from Greek phil “love” + Latin omni “all” + Greek glot “tongue, language”) : noun. A lover of all languages. (A personal coinage of yours truly.)
Why love all languages?
The point has been made that the reason people from every tribe, language, people and nation are seen worshiping around Jesus’ throne inRevelation 5 is because people from every tribe, language, people and nation will find him all-satisfying. In other words, what is special about the one true God is that people from every ethnicity and tongue find in him what they need and they worship. God is therefore not a tribal deity whose “splendor” is seen by a select, remote view, but he is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and his Son is the One through whom all that has its existence was created (John 1:3).
Analogy: If I design a pair of shoes and only people in West Virginia like them, I won’t be a failure, but I won’t be a complete success either. However, as in the case of Nike, if I can design shoes that are desired and praised by people all over the world, that points to a superior shoe. A diverse body recognizes its value.
By his blood Jesus ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 5:9). This is their “new song” (Rev. 5:9a), praising this act. The answer then as to why to love all languages is because God loves all languages and ransomed people from every language by the blood of his Son. Moreover, the telos of each of those languages is to find praise and adoration for the Lamb who was slain and is worthy on the lips of the ransomed speakers.
The Christian has another reason to love languages: because the Scriptures were written in other languages (i.e., not English). Consequently, since I know you’ve heard of sermon jams, you’ll want to give the John Chapter 1 Jam herein linked a listen (featuringJohn 1:1-3 from the Greek New Testament and the Latin Vulgate courtesy of GreekLatinAudio.com [sorry, maybe one with Hebrew will be forthcoming]).
The latest post on the new Sovereign Grace blog recaps the sermon delivered by C. J. Mahaney at SEBTS’ 2008 20/20 Conference Missio Dei just a week ago. Find there an overview of the conference, an outline of Mahaney’s message “The Cup”, and Dr. Akin’s conclusion:
I was listening very carefully when C.J. preached. Sometimes at a conference like this people are very enthusiastic and demonstrative in their response to the preaching. But tonight as C.J. preached, there was a holy silence in this room. There was not much stirring because we were standing on holy ground. I’ll never, ever look at the Garden of Gethsemane the same again.
While in college, one evening as I came out of the main library on the downtown campus I was met by all the smoking loiterers hanging about with nothing real important going on. I felt impressed to share the gospel with these standing around outside. What a crazy idea though. Just what I wanted to do was stand up on the little concrete wall over everyone and begin loudly, publicly sharing the good news of forgiveness of sins that comes through Jesus Christ with nicotine-addicted, lolly-gagging twenty somethings andlook just like the street preacher that frequented the free-speech area on a monthly basis with signs, shouts, and indistinct Scripture quotation. That’s who I would look like to them, and that didn’t sound to appealing to me. That moment when I pussyfooted out of the scene, going against my conscious, is one past event in my life that I would change.
What would I have done differently? I would have been a fool for Christ, sharing the gospel with those outside the library. It wouldn’t have had to have been open-air preaching style, but obeying the impression of the Holy Spirit. We can always worry about what others might think. Worrying about what people think is a good thing; but worrying more about public opinion than God’s opinion is dangerous and leads to disobedience. Even as I prepare to post this blog entry now, I worry about what those readers (if any!) will think of my talking openly about the Christian’s inner struggle of sin and wanting to obey God that’s exemplified in the story above. However, of what in this post need I be ashamed? Could not some speak of a one night stand or drunkenness as a regret, an event they wish they could go back and change? All the same, we both would wish to change an event that involved sin. Remorse over sin is a step in the right direction; of that I will not be ashamed.
I left the library and went back to my apartment. I was eaten up inside with my disobedience. I then resolved in my heart that I would return to the library and scope out the situation with the intent of sharing the good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ on our behalf for his glory. I walked back to the library. I was the only one around; but at least I had come around to being obedient. It’s better to be obedient the first time around. Thank the Lord for a second chance!
It’s a simple idea, ask a question that anyone can answer and show the web the results. As bloggers and writers there are times where we might get into a writing funk and are unsure of what to write about, Quofda can help provide you with the inspiration for writing material along with being able to share your results with the web.
“Two mentally retarded women strapped with remote-control explosives — and possibly used as unwitting suicide bombers — brought carnage Friday to two pet bazaars, killing at 91 people in the deadliest day since Washington flooded the capital with extra troops last spring…Women have been used in ever greater frequency in suicide attacks. The twin attacks at the pet markets, however, could mark a disturbing use of unknowing agents of death.”
In what Ricky Gervais (creator of the TV series The Office) calls his defining moment, he explains how after being asked by his older brother at the age of eight “Why do you believe in God?”, he had a crisis of faith and ”within an hour…was an atheist.” Short read straight from the horse’s mouth.
After the Superbowl is over and everybody’s amazed at how quickly the winning team is presented with victory apparel, one wonders where the “winning” shirts and hats end up (if the other team had won). Well, wonder no longer! World Vision takes that stuff and hands it out to people who don’t make millions a year and who could actually use a free t-shirt and hat.