Bumper Sticker

On the way home today, I saw the following on a bumper sticker:

Have you forgotten about Jesus? Isn't it about time you did?

Just when I start to ask myself why people are so offended by Jesus Christ, I remember Paul's words to the Corinthians:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. - 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, ESV

Lord, thank you for opening the eyes of a fool like me, for removing my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. - Jude 24-25

U.S. Americans

Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Teen South Carolina:

What Is Arugula?

I found this Newsweek story quite funny:

Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue - On a sunlit Friday afternoon in July, Barack Obama stopped by Beverly Van Fossen's farm in Adel, Iowa, to speak about "rural issues." It was standard Hawkeye State stumping—until the senator took a stab at sympathizing with farmers whose crop prices have stagnated. "Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?" he asked. Unfortunately, Adel isn't exactly arugula country. "Someone near me whispered, 'What's arugula?' " says Van Fossen, 74. " 'You can't find that in Iowa'." Same goes for Whole Foods. The closest locations, reported The New York Times that evening, are in Omaha, Neb.; Kansas City, Kans., and Minneapolis. Whoops.

Mark Teixeira

A couple of Atlanta Braves fans at Auburn University wrote the following song after the Braves traded for Mark Teixiera, and what do you know? In this Internet age, where word spreads like wildfire, the Braves found out about it and invited the pair to perform at Turner Field August 31.



Here are the lyrics:

Four and a half games back and I don’t Te-care-a
You know why we got Mark Teixeira
Got a new Braves jersey that I’m gonna wear-a
And written on the back is Mark Teixeira
The Mets are scared cause their lead’s gonna narr-a
They’re lookin’ over their shoulder at Mark Teixeira

Chorus:
We got Fred McGriff back in ‘93
Hampton’s out cause of injury
Schuerholz smiles cause he is happy
And Bobby says, “Let’s go Mark T.”

The National League it just ain’t fair-a
The Atlanta Braves got Mark Teixeira
Chipper and Andruw make a mighty nice pair-a
Let’s make it a trio add Mark Teixeira
A side effect is mild hysteria
The medical reason is Mark Teixeira

Chorus

Bridge:
Scott Thorman stinks and Julio was old
What did Shuerholz do? Must’ve sold his Sooouuulll

Pitchers beware cause he’s gonna scare ya
Throw him a strike now if you dare-a
He could probably steal on Yogi Berra
Biggest thing in Georgia since Scarlet O’Hara
If I were a woman I’d probably marry ya.

And that’s not gay cause its Mark Teixeira.

(HT: Tim Ellsworth)

Sovereign Grace Messages

From JT at Between Two Worlds:

Keith Plummer points out that "Sovereign Grace Ministries is giving an invaluable gift to the body of Christ by making their store's entire collection of MP3 messages available for free download. Audios are sorted by topic, event, and speaker." Here are some of the speakers:

Randy Alcorn
Mark Altrogge
Mike Bullmore
Mark Dever
Ligon Duncan
Wayne Grudem
Joshua Harris
C. J. Mahaney
John MacArthur
Carolyn McCulley
Albert Mohler
John Piper
David Powlison
Ken Sande
R.C. Sproul
Bruce Ware

Question

Here's a question recently posed by the producer of the White Horse Inn to attendees of a Christian conference:

What happens to Christians who die with unconfessed sin?

The answers were interesting, and the discussion on the show that followed was tremendous. Go to oneplace.com to play or download the show or subscribe to the podcast. And while you're here, leave a comment with your answer, along with why you believe that to be true.

Sanctuary?

Good opinion piece here by Mark Steyn, author of America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, about the recent student murders in the "sanctuary city" of Newark, NJ.

Relocation

IowaVoice has moved and been redesigned and relaunched as Liberty Pundit. This is where I read most of my political stuff. Take a look. Donald has recently done a series of "Sizing up the candidates" for the Republican presidential candidates (currently still here at IowaVoice.com), and is now doing the same for the Democrats at Liberty Pundit.

Free Online Books

I am both amazed at and thankful for the resources at Desiring God. I listen to a couple of their podcasts, and occasionally search their website for various articles. This one might take the cake, though: a list of free online books, all in .pdf format. While I'm not a fan of reading an entire book on the computer, it's not so bad to read a section or chapter at a time, and it's an easy way to search back through books I've already read.

Iowa Straw Poll

Not exactly breaking news, but I thought I'd post the results of the Republican Straw Poll that was conducted in Ames on Saturday, along with links to each candidate's campaign website:

1: Mitt Romney - 4516 votes - 31.6%
2: Mike Huckabee - 2587 votes - 18.1%
3: Sam Brownback - 2192 votes - 15.3%
4: Tom Tancredo - 1961 votes - 13.7%
5: Ron Paul - 1305 votes - 9.1%
6: Tommy Thompson - 1,009 votes - 7.3% (Tommy Thompson dropped out of race)
7: Fred Thompson - 203 votes - 1.4% (Fred Thompson has not official declared his candidacy)
8: Rudy Giuliani - 183 votes - 1.3%
9: Duncan Hunter - 174 votes - 1.2%
10: John McCain - 101 votes - 0.7%
11: John Cox - 41 votes - 0.3%

Huckabee's finish was impressive considering his fundraising thus far ranks #8. While Mitt Romney has already raised more than $44 million, Huckabee's fundraising stood at $1.3 million. I hope this gives him a boost, because from what I've seen/heard/read so far, I like him and would love to see him in the picture for the Republican nomination.

Ralph Erskine

I'm not generally much of a poetry fan, but I heard this one, written by Ralph Erskine, on the latest White Horse Inn podcast. (Thanks to Shane Rosenthal at Reformation Ink for the text.)

A Legal Strain of Doctrine Discovered and Discarded.

No wonder Paul the legal spirit curse,
Of fatal errors such a feeding nurse.
He, in JEHOVAH's great tremendous name,
Condemns perverters of the gospel-scheme.
He damn'd the sophist rude, the babbling priest
Would venture to corrupt it in the least;
Yea, curst the heav'nly angel down to hell,
That daring would another gospel tell.
Which crime is charg'd on these that dare dispense
The self-same gospel in another sense.

Christ is not preach'd in truth, but in disguise,
If his bright glory half absconded lies.
When gospel-soldiers, that divide the word,
Scarce brandish any but the legal sword.
While Christ the author of the law they press,
More than the end of it for righteousness;
Christ as a seeker of our service trace,
More than a giver of enabling grace.
The king commanding holiness they show,
More than the Prince exalted to bestow;
Yea, more on Christ the sin-revenger dwell,
Than Christ Redeemer both from sin and hell.

With legal spade the gospel-field he delves,
Who thus drives sinners in unto themselves;
Halving the truth that should be all reveal'd,
The sweetest part of Christ is oft conceal'd.
We bid men turn from sin, but seldom say,
Behold the Lamb that takes all sin away!
Christ, by the gospel rightly understood,
Not only treats a peace but makes it good.
Those suitors therefore of the bride, who hope
By force to drag her with the legal rope,
Nor use the drawing cord of conqu'ring grace,
Pursue with flaming zeal a fruitless chase;
In vain lame doings urge, with solemn awe,
To bribe the fury of the fiery law:
With equal success to the fool that aims
By paper walls to bound devouring flames.
The law's but mock'd by their most graceful deed,
That wed not first the law-fulfilling Head;
It values neither how they wrought nor wept,
That slight the ark wherein alone 'tis kept.
Yet legalists, DO, DO, with ardour press,
And with prepost'rous zeal and warm address,
Would seem the greatest friends to holiness:
But vainly (could such opposites accord)
Respect the law, and yet reject the Lord.
They shew not Jesus as the way to bliss,
But Judas-like betray him with a kiss
Of boasted works, or mere profession puft,
Law-boasters proving but law-breakers oft.

Huckabee

My bipolar personality when it comes to politics is finding some enjoyment in the extended campaigning. It has allowed my lazy nature the time to slowly learn about some of the candidates before the election is here and the choice is basically between a donkey and an elephant. Lately, I've been impressed by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Here are a few links if you'd like to find out a little more about him:

• Story from the Weekly Standard
• Interview with Brain at the IowaVoice
• Mike Huckabee Campaign Website (check out the "Issues" link)

I'd recommend checking out all the candidates' campaign sites at some time or another, along with keeping an eye out for other stories/interviews. Heck, maybe you can even catch a debate - assuming they don't all air at 8 am on Sunday mornings. Thanks for that, ABC.

Video from the Collapsed Bridge

Posted at the Desiring God blog:

See our video team's footage of the scene yesterday and listen to John Piper talk about why there is suffering in the world.

The audio is from the message "Where Is God."

Piper on the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

John Piper, pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, about a mile from the I-35 W bridge collapse, wrote about the collapse last night:

...

Tonight for our family devotions our appointed reading was Luke 13:1-9. It was not my choice. This is surely no coincidence. O that all of the Twin Cities, in shock at this major calamity, would hear what Jesus has to say about it from Luke 13:1-5. People came to Jesus with heart-wrenching news about the slaughter of worshipers by Pilate. Here is what he said.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Jesus implies that those who brought him this news thought he would say that those who died, deserved to die, and that those who didn’t die did not deserve to die. That is not what he said. He said, everyone deserves to die. And if you and I don’t repent, we too will perish. This is a stunning response. It only makes sense from a view of reality that is radically oriented on God.

All of us have sinned against God, not just against man. This is an outrage ten thousand times worse than the collapse of the 35W bridge. That any human is breathing at this minute on this planet is sheer mercy from God. God makes the sun rise and the rain fall on those who do not treasure him above all else. He causes the heart to beat and the lungs to work for millions of people who deserve his wrath. This is a view of reality that desperately needs to be taught in our churches, so that we are prepared for the calamities of the world.

The meaning of the collapse of this bridge is that John Piper is a sinner and should repent or forfeit his life forever. That means I should turn from the silly preoccupations of my life and focus my mind’s attention and my heart’s affection on God and embrace Jesus Christ as my only hope for the forgiveness of my sins and for the hope of eternal life. That is God’s message in the collapse of this bridge. That is his most merciful message: there is still time to turn from sin and unbelief and destruction for those of us who live. If we could see the eternal calamity from which he is offering escape we would hear this as the most precious message in the world.

...

Sports Guy on Vick

I enjoyed the Sports Guy's take on Michael Vick and his [alleged] dogfighting:

It's been strangely entertaining to see so many people express shock and outrage that he could have done something so horrible. Um, he has the same DNA as Marcus Vick! That's like being shocked in 2012 when Lindsay Lohan's little sister gets her first DUI. Plus, Vick could have been accused of murdering a stripper, blowing up a shopping mall or funneling his Nike money to Al Qaeda, and people wouldn't have been even 1% as outraged as they are about the dogfighting allegations. You can get away with just about anything these days; just don't tick off dog lovers.