Saturday, January 17, 2009
Dallas March for Life
Today I participated in the Dallas March for Life. This is the first time I have participated in a march of any kind (except band). It was very interesting and I was glad that I went. It started outside the Catholic cathedral in downtown Dallas. There were lots of people of all ages. I would say that the majority were Catholic. From there we walked to the courthouse where Jane Roe filed her case that became the infamous Roe vs. Wade. There was a time of prayer at the site. Then we walked to a first baptist church building and had lunch and looked at pro-life booths that were set up in the atrium. It was estimated that about 5000 people participated. I can verify that they took up about 1/2 a mile of 3-lane road. The reaction from the people in cars was mostly pleasant with several honks and thumbs up. The whole march was escorted by the Dallas police. I really enjoyed eating lunch and getting to meet and chat with other pro-life people. I am also looking forward to looking over the information that I got from the booths. I took some pictures that I will try to share, but right now I am having trouble up-loading them.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Rewards
I occasionally tell my children if you do "x" you will receive "y" as a reward. For example, my son is currently reading a book on the high end of his reading ability for a guinea pig harness. (for his soon to be purchased guinea pig) The whole reason that I told him about the reward was to motivate him to tackle something he would have not likely done on his own.
That got me thinking about rewards in the Bible. Here are some examples from Jesus' teaching:
1. Giving to the poor in private will be rewarded by God (Matthew 6:4)
2. Receiving a righteous person will receive reward of righteous person (Matthew 10:41, Mark 9:44)
3. Reward from Jesus based on what you have done in this life (Matthew 16:27)
4. Suffering for Christ will receive great reward (Luke 6:24)
5. Doing good for enemies will receive great reward (Luke 6:35)
6. Faithful servant in charge of many things (Matthew 25:21)
7. Do well before the king comes back to be entrusted with more when he returns (Matthew 25)
I am sure that there are more, but you get the idea.
So my question is this:
Why do so many Christians believe that it is wrong to work toward a reward? I understand that we should be motivated by love. But if God didn't want us to think about a reward at all then why mention it? Jesus does rebuke people for working toward a reward from people. But I can't remember anywhere that teaches against working toward a reward from God. I think God mentions rewards so that we will work toward them. What do you think?
That got me thinking about rewards in the Bible. Here are some examples from Jesus' teaching:
1. Giving to the poor in private will be rewarded by God (Matthew 6:4)
2. Receiving a righteous person will receive reward of righteous person (Matthew 10:41, Mark 9:44)
3. Reward from Jesus based on what you have done in this life (Matthew 16:27)
4. Suffering for Christ will receive great reward (Luke 6:24)
5. Doing good for enemies will receive great reward (Luke 6:35)
6. Faithful servant in charge of many things (Matthew 25:21)
7. Do well before the king comes back to be entrusted with more when he returns (Matthew 25)
I am sure that there are more, but you get the idea.
So my question is this:
Why do so many Christians believe that it is wrong to work toward a reward? I understand that we should be motivated by love. But if God didn't want us to think about a reward at all then why mention it? Jesus does rebuke people for working toward a reward from people. But I can't remember anywhere that teaches against working toward a reward from God. I think God mentions rewards so that we will work toward them. What do you think?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Of Conjoined Twins and Pink Iguanas
A couple in England is expecting a set of dicephalus conjoined twins. This means that they share at least part of their torso and their legs. In a quote from a LifeSiteNews article the mother, Lisa Chamberlain, said, "Some people might look at me and say 'You're going to give birth to a freak' but I don't care because I feel blessed." Mrs. Chamberlain and her husband are practising Catholics. I am glad that they have the courage to stand against their doctor and family and give these babies a chance at life. (OneMom also has a post about eugenics that shows how many different kinds of "abnormalities" we are willing to snuff out. I imagine that Rex's mom [see post below] would have recommended by many doctors for abortion. This issue hits close to home. My mom was advised to abort me because she had an x-ray when she was only a few weeks pregnant and didn't yet know it. I am vey glad that she told the doctor no way.)
And we have yet another animal that supposedly evolved millions of years before its island home existed: the pink iguanas on the Galapagos Islands. Once again ICR has the story in more detail.
And we have yet another animal that supposedly evolved millions of years before its island home existed: the pink iguanas on the Galapagos Islands. Once again ICR has the story in more detail.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Rex
I just finished an inspiring book. Rex is a book about a blind autistic musical savant told from the perspective of his mother, Cathleen Lewis. I really enjoy books about people overcoming extreme obstacles with the Lord's help. This is definitely one of those books.
Rex starts life blind due to a malformed optic nerve. He makes great progress until autism becomes apparent. He refuses to eat (living on protein shakes). He becomes hyper-sensitive to sound (running water, light switches, etc.) and touch. By the end of the book he is a tween who can travel the world playing music, has begun to make friends, and has learned to ski. Throughout all of his trials joy shines through in a way that many people envy.
The transformation of his mom is also amazing. The story starts with a career-minded newlywed and ends with a Christian single-mom who is devoted to her son and can praise God even for his difficulties. She was a person who depended on mental abilities to survive and understand the world. Now she looks through the lens of faith. She was an unchurched, irreligious woman whose heart softened toward God before God made any breakthroughs in her son's ability to cope in this world. Now she has a strong faith in God in part thanks to her brother who had the guts to say that maybe God had allowed this to happen for his glory.
I recommend this book. It is a great story of two transformations.
Rex starts life blind due to a malformed optic nerve. He makes great progress until autism becomes apparent. He refuses to eat (living on protein shakes). He becomes hyper-sensitive to sound (running water, light switches, etc.) and touch. By the end of the book he is a tween who can travel the world playing music, has begun to make friends, and has learned to ski. Throughout all of his trials joy shines through in a way that many people envy.
The transformation of his mom is also amazing. The story starts with a career-minded newlywed and ends with a Christian single-mom who is devoted to her son and can praise God even for his difficulties. She was a person who depended on mental abilities to survive and understand the world. Now she looks through the lens of faith. She was an unchurched, irreligious woman whose heart softened toward God before God made any breakthroughs in her son's ability to cope in this world. Now she has a strong faith in God in part thanks to her brother who had the guts to say that maybe God had allowed this to happen for his glory.
I recommend this book. It is a great story of two transformations.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Zooming Around the Internet
My Internet has been down the last few days. Hence the lack of post. Now that it is back up, I have been zooming around the Internet. Here are some interesting things that I found.
Via LifeSiteNews.
A CWFA article about the need for parents of the opposite sex. Boys need moms, and girls need dads. (Amazing how God figured that out thousands of years before all this new research.) "[A] child's relationship with his or her parents is the single most important factor in predicting that child's long-term happiness, adjustment, development, educational attainment, and success."
They also led me to this little article which made me hopping mad. The article itself is good. It refutes a study claiming that virginity pledgers and non-pledgers are equally likely to have sex before marriage. The article points out that to make the study get those results the non-pledgers were all deemed equally devout in their religion. "What Dr. Healy was getting at is that the pledge itself is not what distinguishes these kids from most other teenagers. The real difference is their more conservative and religious home and social environment." (Who would've thought?) Yet all the MSM had to say was that parents that thought teens could make it to the marriage bed virgins were totally out of touch. That's odd. My husband and I somehow managed it.
And from the homeschool e-mail list I am on . . .
The publishing industry is scrambling to see how a child product safety law (passed in August) will effect them. The law will go into effect on Feb. 10th. I get the knee-jerk reaction against the lead in Chinese products in 2008, but how about a little clarity and common sense from our law-makers. "The fast-approaching deadline and the threat of fines ($100,000 per violation) mean the industry is struggling to comply with the Act even without complete answers. Most of the major publishing houses have legal staff working on the issue fulltime, have done or are doing the required testing and labeling (as best as they can, given the uncertainty and cost) and are ready to provide the paperwork. Many smaller publishers, however, may not be ready in time." Further down the article states, "Perhaps the most confusing issue facing retailers and publishers is what to do with old inventory once February arrives. The safety guidelines are retroactive and therefore include all products on store shelves on February 10, not just books manufactured or shipped as of that date. " Good grief. I feel for these publishers. Especially the mom and pop ones.
Via LifeSiteNews.
A CWFA article about the need for parents of the opposite sex. Boys need moms, and girls need dads. (Amazing how God figured that out thousands of years before all this new research.) "[A] child's relationship with his or her parents is the single most important factor in predicting that child's long-term happiness, adjustment, development, educational attainment, and success."
They also led me to this little article which made me hopping mad. The article itself is good. It refutes a study claiming that virginity pledgers and non-pledgers are equally likely to have sex before marriage. The article points out that to make the study get those results the non-pledgers were all deemed equally devout in their religion. "What Dr. Healy was getting at is that the pledge itself is not what distinguishes these kids from most other teenagers. The real difference is their more conservative and religious home and social environment." (Who would've thought?) Yet all the MSM had to say was that parents that thought teens could make it to the marriage bed virgins were totally out of touch. That's odd. My husband and I somehow managed it.
And from the homeschool e-mail list I am on . . .
The publishing industry is scrambling to see how a child product safety law (passed in August) will effect them. The law will go into effect on Feb. 10th. I get the knee-jerk reaction against the lead in Chinese products in 2008, but how about a little clarity and common sense from our law-makers. "The fast-approaching deadline and the threat of fines ($100,000 per violation) mean the industry is struggling to comply with the Act even without complete answers. Most of the major publishing houses have legal staff working on the issue fulltime, have done or are doing the required testing and labeling (as best as they can, given the uncertainty and cost) and are ready to provide the paperwork. Many smaller publishers, however, may not be ready in time." Further down the article states, "Perhaps the most confusing issue facing retailers and publishers is what to do with old inventory once February arrives. The safety guidelines are retroactive and therefore include all products on store shelves on February 10, not just books manufactured or shipped as of that date. " Good grief. I feel for these publishers. Especially the mom and pop ones.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Encouraging Survey
LifeSiteNews released the results of a nation-wide survey commissioned by Catholic bishops. The results are encouraging.
The survey of 2,341 adults, conducted online December 10-12, also found that laws limiting or regulating abortion enjoyed support as high as 95 percent among those expressing support or opposition to the six kinds of laws examined in the survey:
- 95 percent favor laws ensuring that abortions be performed only by licensed physicians
- 88 percent favor informed consent laws (i.e., that require abortion providers to inform women of potential risks to their physical and psychological health and about alternatives to abortion)
- 76 percent favor laws that protect doctors and nurses from being forced to perform or refer for abortions against their will
- 73 percent favor laws that require giving parents the chance to be involved in their minor daughter's abortion decision
- 68 percent favor laws against partial-birth abortion (i.e., aborting a child already partially delivered from the mother), and
- 63 percent favor laws preventing the use of taxpayer funds for abortions.
"Support for these measures cuts across 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' positions. Over a third (35 percent) of the small minority who said abortion should be legal for any reason throughout pregnancy nevertheless supported three or more of the six laws presented," McQuade said.
The survey of 2,341 adults, conducted online December 10-12, also found that laws limiting or regulating abortion enjoyed support as high as 95 percent among those expressing support or opposition to the six kinds of laws examined in the survey:
- 95 percent favor laws ensuring that abortions be performed only by licensed physicians
- 88 percent favor informed consent laws (i.e., that require abortion providers to inform women of potential risks to their physical and psychological health and about alternatives to abortion)
- 76 percent favor laws that protect doctors and nurses from being forced to perform or refer for abortions against their will
- 73 percent favor laws that require giving parents the chance to be involved in their minor daughter's abortion decision
- 68 percent favor laws against partial-birth abortion (i.e., aborting a child already partially delivered from the mother), and
- 63 percent favor laws preventing the use of taxpayer funds for abortions.
"Support for these measures cuts across 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' positions. Over a third (35 percent) of the small minority who said abortion should be legal for any reason throughout pregnancy nevertheless supported three or more of the six laws presented," McQuade said.
Monday, January 5, 2009
A Nation Abandoned
A friend recently loaned us a CD of a sermon by John MacArthur. The title of the sermon is "A Nation Abandoned by God". You can click here to read the transcript. It was one of the most thought provoking sermons I have listened to in a long time.
The basic concept is this: God has abandoned America. We can see this because a description of an abandoned nation is given in Romans chapter 1. I won't go into all of the connections he makes. You should really read the transcript.
I do want to post a quote of the next to the last paragraph which is Mr. MacArthur's advice on what we should be doing about it.
God only wants one thing out of a nation. Listen and believe this book. I really get grieved even when I hear evangelical people in the media and the public eye kind of equivocating about the clarity of the gospel. It's all we've got. Or about the clarity of what Scripture says. Your prayer and mine has to be that God would raise up faithful preachers and people who would proclaim His Word across this land. Pray for this generation of young men that God will call and shape and send, pray for pastors everywhere. Pray for lay people, for Christians to be bold. There's only one solution and that's the truth...the truth by which God saves, by which God sanctifies, and if this nation will respond and listen to His truth, God will open the flood gates. We might be the greatest recovery story in history. But there's no other way than that people listen to Me and walk in My ways. It's not going to happen if there's a famine of the hearing of the Word of God. Pray that the Word, as Paul said, would have free course and that it would run with all its power across this land. With all its beauty and magnificence, all its power and grace, that people would hear and believe and be saved and be obedient, all that to the glory of God. I don't know what God's plan is, I just see here what His heart is. "O, that My people would listen to Me," that's the heart of God.
After listening to it this sermon, my husband and I were discussing the pattern in Judges: discipline, repentance, heroic civil magistrate (Gideon, Samson, etc.). Then I started thinking, "God raised up the excellent civil magistrate to rescue the people from their own demise not because the people found and voted on him/her but because they repented. Hearts across the nation of Israel turned to God. They changed their ways. They asked for His intervention. Then He raised up a leader."
Food for thought.
The basic concept is this: God has abandoned America. We can see this because a description of an abandoned nation is given in Romans chapter 1. I won't go into all of the connections he makes. You should really read the transcript.
I do want to post a quote of the next to the last paragraph which is Mr. MacArthur's advice on what we should be doing about it.
God only wants one thing out of a nation. Listen and believe this book. I really get grieved even when I hear evangelical people in the media and the public eye kind of equivocating about the clarity of the gospel. It's all we've got. Or about the clarity of what Scripture says. Your prayer and mine has to be that God would raise up faithful preachers and people who would proclaim His Word across this land. Pray for this generation of young men that God will call and shape and send, pray for pastors everywhere. Pray for lay people, for Christians to be bold. There's only one solution and that's the truth...the truth by which God saves, by which God sanctifies, and if this nation will respond and listen to His truth, God will open the flood gates. We might be the greatest recovery story in history. But there's no other way than that people listen to Me and walk in My ways. It's not going to happen if there's a famine of the hearing of the Word of God. Pray that the Word, as Paul said, would have free course and that it would run with all its power across this land. With all its beauty and magnificence, all its power and grace, that people would hear and believe and be saved and be obedient, all that to the glory of God. I don't know what God's plan is, I just see here what His heart is. "O, that My people would listen to Me," that's the heart of God.
After listening to it this sermon, my husband and I were discussing the pattern in Judges: discipline, repentance, heroic civil magistrate (Gideon, Samson, etc.). Then I started thinking, "God raised up the excellent civil magistrate to rescue the people from their own demise not because the people found and voted on him/her but because they repented. Hearts across the nation of Israel turned to God. They changed their ways. They asked for His intervention. Then He raised up a leader."
Food for thought.
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