|
Website of the Week
Another great movie from the BBC.
Local Pump Price of Unleaded Gasoline:
$3.89/gallon
Price Per Barrel of Oil:
$136.04 (previously $125.96)
last modified Jul 8, 2008 at 22:33
Maybe it's our Scottish heritage. We get bored and we like to pick a fight among ourselves. That's why I'm not absolutely shocked about all this.
However, brothers and sisters, I urge you to stop and consider what Satan is doing to our unity through this supposed controversy regarding the Auburn Avenue Theology and the reaction of other reformed people to it.
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23 (italics mine)
I'm not asking, as Rodney King so famously queried, "Why can't we all just get along?" Unity for the sake of unity is meaningless, but unity for the sake of the gospel of Christ and the church is essential. Brothers and sisters, we have such a vibrant and joyous shared understanding of God's word in the Reformed faith, why should we allow that to be diminished by division, anathemas, and acrimonious charges of heresy over nonessential (to salvation) doctrine?
If we had to have 100% accuracy of theology to be called true Christians, then we would all be speeding in a freight truck to the depths of hell. Let us take a step back, catch our breath, and remember that we are saying these awful things against our brothers and sisters who love the Lord. What will the unsaved think of the gospel when they see it's professors behaving this way?
In that same prayer, the Lord Jesus also said: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Brothers and sisters on both sides, we are beckoned to unity for the sake of the gospel. May we heed this call.
The anti-abortionists were in high form last Sunday as they tried to disrupt the pro-life Walk for Life in San Francisco. Zombie photoblogs the action here.
Happy Quarter Millennial Birthday, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
(that's 250 years, Einstein).
This is an interesting list (thanks Wayne) of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America according to The Church Report. One gets the impression that this list was compiled by a faithful viewer of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Well, let me put it this way: I am about 99.99% sure that this was compiled by TBN fans by the fact that the voters selected Bishop TD Jakes as the most influential Christian in America.
Other "influential Christians":
- Joel Osteen (must be a little irritated to lose out to the Bishop)
- Dr. Rick Warren
- Dr. Charles Stanley
- Benny Hinn (no comment)
- Sean Hannity
- Pope Benedict (with a paltry 44th ranking)
- Phil McGraw (squeezes in at No. 50)
Joe Katzman is sounding darnright depressing in his analysis of the situation with Iran over at Winds of Change:
I personally believe that we're very likely to see at least 10 million dead in the Middle East within the next two decades, with an upper limit near 100 million. I do not believe pre-emptive action will be taken against Iran. I do, however, believe the extremist mullahs in Iran mean exactly what they say. They are steeped in an ideology that believes suicide/murder to be the holiest and most moral act possible. They have been diligent in laying strategic plans for an offensive Islamic War against Israel, America and the West. Plans backed by 25 years of action, and stated no less clearly than Mein Kampf. I believe that Ahmedinajad's talk of 12th Imam end-times and halos around his head at the UN aren't the ravings of an isolated nut, simply an unusually public (and unusually noticed) expression of beliefs that are close to mainstream within their ruling class. That class of "true believer" imams and revolutionary guard types have been quietly consolidating their control over all sectors of Iranian society over the last few months, and I do not believe anyone in the world today has both the will and the capability to stop them. A key pillar of The Bush Doctrine is about to fail.
*******
I wrote Stanley Kurtz at NRO a note about my concerns with Ahmanidijad (sic?) and whether we are giving him enough credit in our analysis of the situation. If this were a chess match, we are assuming that Ahmanidijad had blundered with a careless opening move of announcing that Iran is resuming development of nuclear capabilities. Surely he would remember history and would know that such an announcement would precipitate a response from the United States and/or Israel and pressure would mount to take out his facilities as was done to Iraq's nuclear facilities back in the 80's.
So, why would Ahmanidijad announce this to the world? He knows our next move and is possible hoping for it. But why? If we take his pawn, will he take our queen? What does he have up his sleeve that we don't know? That, to me, is the key question that we must answer and formulate our response in respect to.
Support a noble cause, help get this billboard placed near USC's campus -
Just when you begin to build a readership (yes, that's you, Mom), something like server troubles at the mysterious danchan.com comes along and dashes your dreams... Alas!
In the meantime, you missed my excellent and salient commentary on such scintillating topics as the Alito hearings, cloning fraud, the idiocy of citing poll numbers and precedent when advocating the status quo on Roe, and so on. If you're lucky, I might regale you with my thoughts on these and other important topics of the day. We might even get into some deep discussion on Godfather I and II, i.e. was the sequel actually better than the first movie, was Tom Hagan the real traitor, etc.
So, welcome back, dear reader. The blog world can breathe a sigh of relief now that the Hoguester is back and taking names.
|
