Grace Blogs

I’ve recently taken on an unfamiliar role for me: assistant coach of a 5 to 7 year-old flag football team. Fortunately for me and the kids, I am the third coach, and the first two actually know what they are doing. You can see how I have captured the boys’ attention with my commanding field presence and mastery of the game.

This, along with Austin’s growing interest in sports, has me thinking more about the role of sports in the Christian life. So, it was nice timing when I came across an excellent sermon by C.J. Mahaney entitled Don’t

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Donna’s recent entries have shed some light on and created some good discussion around the problem of sexual temptation. Most of that discussion has been around the destructive power of lust–adultery of the heart. As destructive as that is, tragically, it doesn’t always stop there. Most of us have been touched by a friend or family member who has fallen to marital infidelity. Most of us think it could never happen to us, but then again, we didn’t think it would happen to those we have known who have wrecked their marriages this way, either.

I recently came across a compelling plea for Integrity in Ministry by Dr. Daniel Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, for those …

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On Friday (June 20), Dennis Rainey of Family Life sent the following email to some of his friends regarding the death of his newly-born granddaughter, Molly. The e-mails have now been made public since they hold a wonderful testament to God’s grace in the lives of the extended family. Dennis recounts his emotions and surrounding circumstances of the last precious moments spent with family and Molly before she passed to be with Jesus.

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It seems like so many people have been going through so many things, recently . . . but then again, I said that last year, and the year before, etc.  As I leaned over and told someone this week at the funeral of one of our church members, while we were grieving with and for the family, “death stinks!”  Sometimes, I just have to process that, and then I remember that we don’t grieve as those who have no hope, if we are followers of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Thank God for Christ’s sacrifice, that death is not the end for those who are His! 

Still, there is a time to grieve, and I am feeling that right now. 

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The Amazon.com search link was a temporary casualty of the Web site redesign. It is coming back, but in the meantime, you can bookmark this entry. If you are not familiar with the way this works, you simply start your search from the Amazon search box. A percentage of your purchase (usually around 6-7% for books and 4% for electronics) will automatically go to the church.

Search:

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The other morning at the Men’s Bible Study, the subject came up the need for humility in interpreting God’s purposes in the midst of trials. That made me think of a short story by Max Lucado that I heard some years ago and has always stuck with me. You can read the whole thing here, but here is the heart of it…

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before—such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.

People offered fabulous prices for the

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I use this blog space every now and again to remind everyone that we have a feature on our Web site that allows you to provide a benefit to church every time you make a purchase from Amazon.com. Simply start your search from the Amazon search box on our Resources page. A percentage of your purchase (usually around 6-7% for books and 4% for electronics) will automatically go to the church.

The report for this quarter (which is about to end) shows that we’ve earned $165.83 so far. That is generated from the relatively small percentage of the church that actually uses the feature. I know that it is easy to forget about, but try to remember the next time you

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Charlie Stross is a science fiction writer who is finding it difficult to write sci-fi with a straight face. I recently came across an essay he wrote “to highlight the problems I face in trying to write believable science fiction about space colonization.”

Some highlights:

There are places on Earth nobody would ever dream of colonizing: the North Atlantic and the Gobi Desert, to name two. Both of those places are a million times more hospitable than Mars (for example) — not to mention easier and cheaper to get to. When we’ve successfully colonized those places, then let’s talk about other planets. On the subject of other solar systems: the nearest star outside our solar system is 4.2 …

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Tim Challies has posted a chronicle of his reaction to the Ted Haggard scandal. I think that the process that he went through will sound familiar to many of us, but where he ended up is where we all should–if we truly recognize the depth of our depravity and the unmerited nature of God’s grace.

The concluding paragraph sums up the whole article…

If we look to Ted Haggard as a representative of all that is wrong in Evangelicalism, I think we miss the most important lesson. The lesson we need to learn is that we are every bit as sinful and fallible and willful and depraved as Haggard; perhaps more so. It is only the grace of God that,

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“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” -Blaise Pascal

That is the quote that I was forced to paraphrase during the discussion time in the Christian Essentials class this morning because I couldn’t recall the exact quote.

It’s amazing how relevant that quote remains after over 300 years.

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