Advocacy as Mercy 12/21/2011
There are four types of mercy, all seen in the parable of the Good Samaritan:
Add Comment Online Resource Reaching into China 12/06/2011
Desiring God, the ministry led by John Piper, has lauched a Chinese language website in China to distribute resources in Chinese. Read about it here. Reaching Southwestern's newest student population takes a little effort and a criminal background check. The journey begins with a drive south from Houston along a small farm-to-market road lined with fields of livestock and crops managed by some of Texas' most violent offenders. After taking a lonely road to Darrington prison's front gate, Southwestern Seminary professors must pass through a series of security checkpoints, past gates topped with razor wire, through a metal detector and pat-down, and down a hall to the education wing. Housed in this maximum security unit, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's new bachelor's degree in biblical studies gives inmates the opportunity to experience life transformation through studying the Bible as well as share that transformation with others. Southwestern, in its first convocation inside Darrington's chapel, signified an innovative venture between the seminary and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Celebrating the launch of the new program, seminary administrators joined state Sens. John Whitmire and Dan Patrick as well as TDCJ leadership, special guests and the 39 inmates who compose the inaugural class. Ben Phillips, associate dean at Southwestern's Houston campus and director of the extension program, welcomed everyone to the convocation at the Darrington unit of the Texas penal system. "We are here to celebrate what God is going to be doing and how God is going to use these men and the lives they touch to bring honor and glory to His name," Phillips said, "because we believe above all else that God uses His Gospel, given in His Word, to change people's lives, to take the worst of the worst, to take sinners and transform them into Christlike saints."...read the rest of this Baptist Banner article here. "I can hardly wait for morning to come" 11/17/2011
W.A. Criswell was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas for 50 years. He told the story of taking a flight to go and speak at an event on the east coast of the United States. As he boarded the plane he was excited to see that he was seated next to a seminary professor that he admired. As soon as they were underway, Criswell introduced to this man and they began to talk. The professor told Criswell that he had recently lost his son to a terrible illness. The boy had been at pre-school and had been sent home one day after coming down with a fever. The parents assumed it was just another little cold or flu, but through the evening the boy got worse and worse so they took him off to the hospital. After running tests the doctors came and gave the parents the worst possible news—that the boy had somehow contracted Meningitis and that it had progressed beyond the point that they could help. The disease would run its course and the boy would die. There was nothing they could do. For a couple of days the parents sat with their boy, praying and hoping. But the boy got worse and worse. Finally, after a few days, they could see that his body was too weak to go in. It was in the middle of the day and the boy’s vision began to fade. He looked up at his father and said, “Daddy, it’s getting dark, isn’t it?” “Yes, my boy, it’s getting dark.” “It’s time for me to sleep, isn’t it?” “Yes, my boy, it’s time for you to sleep.” The professor explained how his son liked to have his pillow and blankets arranged just so and that he always lay his head on his hands while he slept. So he fixed his son’s pillow and watched while the boy rested his head on his hands. “Good night daddy. I’ll see you in the morning.” The boy closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. His breathing became shallow and just a few moments later his life was over, almost before it began. That professor stopped talking for a while and looked out the window of the airplane for a good long time. Then he turned to Dr. Criswell and with his voice breaking and with tears spilling onto his cheeks he whispered, “I can hardly wait for morning to come.” Read the whole blog post from which this is an excerpt at Tim Challies blog: http://www.challies.com/christian-living/the-crushing-weight-of-glory the Power of GOOD NEWS 10/18/2011
Imagine American prisoners of war held behind barbed wire in a camp with little food and filthy conditions near the end of the Second World War. On the outside of the fence the captors are free and go about their business as though they don’t have a care. Inside the fence the captured sol- diers are thin, hollow-eyed, unshaven, and dirty. Some die each day. Then somehow a shortwave radio is smuggled into one of the barracks. There is connection with the outside world and the progress of the war. Then one day the captors on the outside of the fence see something very strange. Inside the fence the weak, dirty, unshaved American soldiers are smiling and laughing, and a few who have the strength give a whoop and throw tin pans into the air. What makes this so strange to everyone outside the fence is that nothing has changed. These American soldiers are still in captivity. They still have little food and water. And many are still sick and dying. But what the captors don’t know is that what these soldiers do have is news. The enemy lines have been broken through. The decisive battle of liberation has been fought. And the liberating troops are only miles away from the camp. Freedom is imminent. This is the difference that news makes. Christians have heard the news that Christ has come into the world and has fought the decisive battle to defeat Satan and death and sin and hell. The war will be over soon, and there is no longer any doubt as to who will win. Christ will win, and he will liberate all those who have put their hope in him. The good news is not that there is no pain or death or sin or hell. There is. The good news is that the King himself has come, and these enemies have been defeated, and if we trust in what he has done and what he promises, we will escape the death sentence and see the glory of our Liberator and live with him forever. This news fills us with hope and joy (Rom. 15:13) and frees us from self-pity and empowers us to love those who are suffering. In this hope-sustained love he will help us persevere until the final trum- pet of liberation sounds and the prison camp is made into a “new earth” (2 Pet. 3:13).- John Piper, God is the Gospel, p. 20, 21 | AuthorGNBC authors post items of interest to us here. ArchivesDecember 2011 Categories |
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