Manspeak

by Justin Day

I recently listened to a short podcast by philosopher William Lane Craig about Christian persecution in Iran. A lot of thoughts ran through my head after meditating on it. Listen to the podcast, titled “Justice in Iran,” and see what you think about it.

1) How does this make you feel about your brothers and sisters in the East? And how does it make you feel about your current situation, living in the West?

2) What do you think the correct course of action should be for American Christians since we have the knowledge of and (possibly) the means to prevent global persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ?

by Justin Day

In my quiet times I have been reading through the Gospel of Mark and a few questions have come to me recently. First of all I am curious why Jesus chose to speak in parables instead of “straight talk.” The purpose of Jesus using a parable is something that I cannot comprehend. It seems that parables would be the opposite of what one would want to do if you were trying to tell someone a message so important as the Gospel.

In chapter 4 of Mark’s gospel we get the reason why Jesus chose to speak to us in parable form. Jesus tells the disciples, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” I understand this to be saying that Jesus wants the power to understand his message to not be in our hands, but rather to be in his hands. One must repent and be forgiven before one can actually comprehend what Christ is saying. And as we know regeneration is in the hands of Holy Spirit alone.

How should we understand this? Why would God want to reveal his message only to some instead of all? Lastly, how should we view this in light of 1 Timothy 2:4 where it says that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”?

by Mike Plewniak

David Platt, senior pastor of The Church at Brooks Hill, preaches on the gospel and manhood.  Listen as he preaches about 7 truths his dad taught him about manhood.

HT:  cbmw via twitter

by Mike Plewniak

I know, that’s a big question.  I’m sure there are thousands of answers, opinions, and convictions about how to use twitter, facebook, myspace, texting, and blogs.  Josh Harris recently posted about using twitter during church and his thoughts for his congregration, Covenant Life Church.  Albert Mohler writes about texting among teenagers and the all-consuming nature of technology.

Listen to this quote from the NY Times I found pretty humorous about teens texting:  “They do it late at night when their parents are asleep. They do it in restaurants and while crossing busy streets. They do it in the classroom with their hands behind their back. They do it so much their thumbs hurt.  Authorities now blame excessive texting for sleep deprivation, distraction in school, poor grades, and even repetitive stress injuries.  These teens are texting while they should be sleeping, and they are sleeping with the cell phone set to vibrate so that they can respond to texts from friends without waking parents.”

Where’s the line?  When is it too much?  When is it beneficial and when does it lose it’s benefit?

by Mike Plewniak

This is the testimony of Evan Wilson, soon to be intern for VFC.  He shared this at CCK several Sundays ago.  Enjoy!

“My career at UT began in the Fall of 2004.  My original purpose in coming all the way to Knoxville, TN was to get as far away from my parents as possible without forfeiting the hope scholarship by going somewhere out of state.  I was so sure that leaving my small Christian school in Jackson, TN and coming to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville would be the best decision that I could have ever made.  I was captivated by the fact that I had freedom to do anything that I wanted without being bothered by my parents or called into the principles office after a weekend of drinking with my friends.  The drinking and partying from high school carried over to my college years and I could not seem to get enough of this new lifestyle.  The world’s attraction began to grow stronger as I got bored with my usual friends, and I eventually decided that there must be another level of satisfaction at the University of Tennessee.  Continue reading →

by Mike Plewniak

On the Albert Mohler program yesterday, he addressed the issue of biblical manhood.  He said that one of the biggest challenges facing the church today is the eclipse and confusion of manhood.  The show walks through what callers would say to young Christian men

What would you say?

Just like grace is free, and pancakes were free from IHOP yesterday (you bet I hit that up), a gracious fellow at Boomer In The Pew blog is giving away a FREE CALFSKIN ESV STUDY BIBLIA!!! Check it out, and then you’ll know why I posted here.

Keep in mind though, the grace of God is even free-er than this giveaway. Praise the Lord!

–joshcan 

by Justin Day

So what should we do with the theory of evolution?

This is really a tough question for modern Christians. For most of the 19th and 20th century it might have been somewhat reasonable to object to the theory on reasonable grounds. Today, however, it seems that the evidence for evolution, and more importantly common descent of man, is almost undeniable. Whether it be biology, geology, paleontology, chemistry, modern science seems to conclusively tell us that the earth is old and all life has a common ancestor.

Continue reading →