A great post on being a Christ-honoring mother:
Month: October 2010
Reason to Rejoice in Repentance
“But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.”
(1 Samuel 2:25 ESV)
Eli’s sons were wicked men. Though Priests, they neither served God nor man–they served themselves. Using their position for their own pleasure, they defiled sacrifices and took liberties with the women working at the temple. Eli warned them that their sin was not against man, but against God. He reminded them that their was no one to mediate for them before God. But they did not listen. Verse 25 tells us why they didn’t listen, and reminds us of why repentance is reason for joy.
In the case of Eli’s sons, it was the Lord’s will to destroy them. They had no opportunity to repent. As I ponder that terrible reality, I consider that God did grant me repentance. I’m no better than they were, but by His grace (and for His glory) He chose to extend to me what he kept from them. So I rejoice in His grace to me, His grace that granted me repentance and gave to me salvation.
More on Love from Paul Tripp
The Trinitarian Theology of Keith Green | The Scriptorium Daily: Middlebrow
What is love?
“And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
(Mark 10:17–22 ESV, emp mine)
When the rich man comes to Jesus, Jesus loves him. But look at that love. We might expect Jesus to love him by saying, “You’re money is an issue, come follow me and we’ll deal with that.” Or, we might expect Jesus to say, “You’re all sinners, so don’t get too worked up over this law stuff.” From much of what we hear taught today, the only way to love the unrepentant sinner is to not confront their sin. Yet, Jesus does the exact opposite.
It is loving for Jesus to confront this man’s sin. He draws a clear line in the sand: the man must leave his beloved wealth in order to follow Christ. Anything less is absolutely unacceptable. How is this love? Because it doesn’t give the man a false sense of security, or a false sense of salvation. Jesus knows the standard is real repentance, and knows it would be doing this man a disservice to pretend something less was acceptable. Lowering the bar might even cost this man salvation.
We tend to lower the bar in our own lives. We rationalize and excuse our own sin. We also lower the bar for others. Professing Christians are allowed to continue in unrepentant sin without anyone loving them enough to tell them they’ve sinned. Rebellious Christians are allowed to continue on indefinitely, because the church doesn’t love them enough to say, “Enough is enough.”
Don’t lower the bar. Love yourself and others by passionately pursuing personal holiness.
Pajamas Media » Five Societal Trends That Signal Our Nation’s Decline
Here are five societal trends that will further exacerbate the pessimism of two-thirds of American adults who believe our nation’s future is bleak: National poverty is higher now than in all 51 years of record keeping. There is an increasing number of high school drop-outs. The American workforce is steadily becoming less educated. Four of out of every ten births in America are to unmarried women. Only 53% of Americans pay federal income taxes.
via Pajamas Media » Five Societal Trends That Signal Our Nation’s Decline.
It seems to me that each of these indicators of societal decline connect with the decline of Christianity. Here is a brief explanation.
America is getting poorer? Christianity teaches the sanctity of work. Work is a God-given and blessed endeavor. Further, the New Testament forbids providing welfare to those who can work but choose not to. Could America’s increasing poverty be a result of rejecting this work ethic?
Increasing number of high school dropouts. Liek with work, Christianity generally encourages education. Universities sprung forth from this, and it was Christian’s who saved many ancient works from passing into the dustbin of history. Also, men like Newton pursued Science out of a conviction that studying Creation glorified God. Perhaps abandoning the tenets of Christianity means there is no longer a strong cultural basis for education.
4/10 births are to unwed woman. This doesn’t even need comment.
For me the bottom line is this: Western Civilization grew over thousands of years of discipleship. It will not be reclaimed in a moment. The church must return to instilling Christ’s teachings in the hearts and lives of Christians, who will instill it in their children and so forth, so that society can regain her Christian foundation.
Brandon Markette 