Combat operations are officially over in Iraq. But don’t tell the U.S. Air Force, which is still flying tens of thousands of missions over Iraq.
via U.S. Air War Soars in ‘Post-Combat’ Iraq | Danger Room | Wired.com.
Continue to pray for the Airmen and their families as they continue to execute their assigned missions.
A rather interesting look at Yoga and Christianity.
Reflection: How does 1 Corinthians 8 address a similar issue? What might 1 Corinthians 8 tell us about this article?
AlbertMohler.com – The Subtle Body — Should Christians Practice Yoga?.
A handy tool from Voice of the Marytrs. It’s an interactive map of world wide persecution.
Revivals don’t ratify the earthly aspirations of humanity, including selfish political agendas. They are about glorifying God. Too many modern Christians have it backward. In a real revival the Lincoln Memorial event would have been a result, not an attempt to cause a revival. People would have assembled who had already repented in private. They would not have bemoaned a decline in American “morality,” but instead have fallen on their knees or faces and cried out in genuine repentance and humility.
via WORLDmag.com | Community | Blog Archive | Genuine revival.
Christianity is very much about personal repentance. When the Christian is more concerned with the sins of the ‘nation’ or Politicians than our own, personal sin, we become the people Jesus warned us about.
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
(Matthew 7:3–5 ESV)
At his rally last weekend on the Washington Mall, Fox News host Glenn Beck brought 240 clergy onstage. Harkening back to the Revolutionary War, Beck called the group a “Black Robe Regiment.” He said the clergy “all locked arms saying the principles of America need to be taught from the pulpit.”
via And Glenn Beck Shall Lead Them | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction.
As politically conservative as I am, I don’t thing the pulpit is the place for the ‘principles of America.’ Further, the tradition of Western Civilization which gave us the ‘principles of America’ came from Scripture–the Judeo Christian ethic. Perhaps, if Mr. Beck and Co. desire a revival that leads to traditional public virtues, we need to preach repentance and disciple the repentant.
Christianity should alter the way we understand with and interact with the world around us. That includes our politics. However, preaching politics doesn’t renew minds nor transform lives. Also, Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world–America was founded on Christian principles, but that does not make us Christ’s Kingdom.
Want to transform the moral fabric of society? Then, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2 ESV)
Sarah Cassidy is the sort of no-nonsense, capable woman you might expect to find as headmistress of a primary school. But Sarah doesn’t do children, and she doesn’t do husbands either.No. Sarah is 43, single and celibate — and determined to remain so. Each night she fastens a wire chain, known as a cilice, around her upper thigh . . .
via Why does Opus Dei member Sarah Cassidy attach a cilice to her leg every day? | Mail Online.
Yet,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
(Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV)
Either we’re saved BY grace FOR good works, or we are saved BY works. It cannot be both ways. While these women are extreme examples, perhaps, the reality is that most of us try to ‘do penance.’ We try to make up for our sin by doing good things. If those good works outweigh the sin, we seem to believe, God will accept us.
But that is not the gospel. The gospel acknowledges we cannot do enough to make up for our sin. It demands, not penance, but repentance. The atoning was done by Christ, once for all. To think my self-inflicted suffering, or my good works, somehow atones for my sin is to make light of Christ’s work on the cross.
Brandon Markette 