The Joy and Gravity of Adoption

The Joy and Gravity of Adoption
New Film Premiere - I Like Adoption. from ILikeGiving.com on Vimeo.

Christmas As War

It's not about the War on Christmas. It's about Christmas as war.

Dr. Russell Moore posted on the Newtown shooting as it relates to Christmas. The entire post is worth reading. He shattered my "Silent Night" image of the Luke 2 story held for most of my life describing the King's birth in the context of conflict.

I will never sing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" the same way. Maranantha in the cold and dark places!

Vomit Dog

Killing me softly with His Words: Selections from 1 & 2 Peter.

Punishment . . . This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority . . . they are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures . . . they never stop sinning . . . they have left the straight way and wondered off . . . These men are springs without water and mists driven by the storm. . . Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words . . . they are slaves of depravity – for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than at the beginning. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit”. . .

How close am I to such men? How often do I plunge into the same flood of dissipation (1 Pet. 4: 4) given to be deluged and destroyed (2 Pet. 3: 6). What separates me from them? Grace, calling, glory – enabling strength, firmness . . . restoration (1 Pet. 5: 10). A Price paid – redemption from the empty way (1 Pet. 1: 18). As the result (of Christ’s sufferings at the Cross) I will not live this earthly life for my evil desires (1 Pet. 4: 1-2), but as a stranger in reverent fear (1 Pet. 1: 17), shielded by faith (1 Pet. 1: 5), divinely empowered (2 Pet. 1: 3), on guard, growing in grace, to His glory! (2 Pet. 3: 17-18). Mercy, Lord – plead grace and mercy.

Calling Not Potential

Two mind shakers, heart rattlers, and soul rollers from the Resurgence:


A question that could change your life.


What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?

How to live for God's glory.

Pursue your calling, not your potential.

. . . you were redeemed from the empty way of life . . . 
(1 Pet. 1:18)

Therefore,

 Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity . . . 
(Eph. 5: 15)

Life Changer

Be forewarned this is the best sermon on missions you will ever hear. For some of you, it will mean leaving where you are to go where you are called. Soak it in, then let it gnaw on your soul - be radically moved. Let the One who holds the fate of the world in His hand have your life as well.

Dylan On Work & Calling

All credit to Margie Haack (at her blog: Toads Drink Coffee) for the following re-post. If you aren't familiar with her and her husband, Denis (who I've had the pleasure of hearing preach), they lead the ministry, Ransom Fellowship. Denis wrote a book that influenced me in earlier years, entitled "The Rest of Success". Read a sampling of the unique, thought-provoking, Biblically-informed writing that comes out of their ministry.

The re-purposed post "Dylan On Work & Calling":

Rolling Stone: So live performance is a purpose you find fulfilling?

Dylan: If you’re not fulfilled in other ways, performing can never make you happy. Performing is something you have to learn how to do it. You do it, you get better at it, you keep going. And if you don’t get better at it, you have to give it up. Is it a fulfilling way of life? What kind of way of life is fulfilling? No kind of life is fulfilling if your soul hasn’t been redeemed. 

You’ve described what you do not as a career but as a calling.

Everybody has a calling, don’t they? Some have a high calling, some have a low calling. Everybody is called but few are chosen. There is a lot of distraction for people, so you might not never find the real you. A lot of people don’t. 

How would you describe your calling?

Mine? Not any different than anybody else’s. Some people are called to be a good sailor. Some people have a calling to be a good tiller of the land. Some people are called to be a good friend. You have to be the best at whatever you’re called at. Whatever you do. You ought to be the best at it – highly skilled. It’s about confidence – not arrogance.

By It I See

C. S. Lewis:

We believe that the sun is in the sky at midday in summer not because we can clearly see the sun (in fact, we cannot) but because we can see everything else. . . 


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.