This N That for you

I'm currently reading "The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield and the Wesleys (History of Evangelicalism Series)". It is good. It is the inaugural book in a series that charts the course of English-speaking evangelicalism over the last 300 years. I'm fascinated by the lives of Edwards and Wesley and I'm thrilled to be getting familiar with Whitefield.

I bought "What Is a Healthy Church Member?" part of the IX Marks series. The blurb says "God intends for us to play an active and vital part in the body of Christ, the local church. He wants us to experience the local church as a home more profoundly wonderful and meaningful than any other place on earth. He intends for his churches to be healthy places and for the members of those churches to be healthy as well. This book explains how membership in the local church can produce spiritual growth in its members and how each member can contribute to the growth and health of the whole."

I also bought "Expository Listening: A Practical Handbook for Hearing and Doing God's Word." The blurb says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”––James 1:22 In many people’s mind, if they don’t get anything out of the sermon, it’s the preacher’s fault. But that’s only half true. The Bible teaches that listeners must partner with the preacher so that the Word of God accomplishes its intended purpose of transforming their life. Expository Listening is your handbook on biblical listening. It is designed to equip you not only to understand what true, biblical preaching sounds like, but also how to receive it, and ultimately, what to do about it. You need to know how to look for the Word of God, to love the Word of God, and to live the Word of God. In this way, God and His Word will be honored and glorified through your life."

They are both small and short books, and I'm looking forward to digging in during our Spring Vacation. I already have a good biblical grounding on the two topics from my studies, so now I'm looking forward to enacting the principles even better than I try to do now. I can improve. I want to improve. These books will help me do that.

I don't know about you but the constant touting of personal visits to heaven or personal visits/visions from Jesus on earth are getting on my nerves. Justin Peters does a great job in this video of summarizing the problems with these visits and goes into more detail in the article linked below.
Your Best Afterlife Now - An Examination and Critique of Claimed Visits to Heaven and Hell, by Justin Peters



This next story is a movement that seeks to redefine what womanhood is.

Proud to be a slut
"SlutWalk, a tradition that started a year ago in Canada, is making its way to Israel this month, according to Haaretz.com. The event was inspired by a Canadian policeman who said that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." Women who reject this attitude protested in Toronto last year and since then SlutWalks have been held all over the world.SlutWalks (Mitzad Sharmutot in Hebrew) will be held in Tel Aviv on March 16, in Haifa a week later and in Jerusalem in April.What is the Signification? Reclaiming the word "slut" is the aim of SlutWalks. And thanks to Rush Limbaugh's flagrant use of the word in reference to Sandra Fluke last week, the global protest couldn't be more timely."

This next story out of Israel mirrors one in Florida USA. At root, these two stories about lesbian motherhood - among many others like them -  are redefining what motherhood is. More on that in a moment.

Israeli court recognizes lesbian couple as mothers of child
"The Ramat Gan Family Court decided Sunday, in a precedential verdict, to recognize both women of a lesbian couple as the mothers of a baby boy."

Redefining womanhood and  motherhood is part of a progression Paul warned us about in Romans 1:18-32. First, men suppress the evidence of God that is clear in the world. Then because they fail to honor Him, their hearts become darkened. They become foolish. God gives them over to what their hearts want to do: indulge their impure lusts. Then those lusts become depraved as men seek to lie with each other. Things get worse still, for the women then seek to lie with each other. "...and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." (Romans 1:27). In verse 26 Paul says "even the women" did these things. This is significant.

The 19th century commenter Charles Hodge said, "Paul first refers to the degradation of females among the heathen because they are always the last to be affected in the decay of morals and their corruption is therefore proof that all virtue is lost."

In other words, when the women go, society goes.

Now for the lighthearted link:

Why do cats rule the internet? 
A Scientific Explanation
"Cats may not be man’s best friend, but they’re arguably something even better: man’s key to instant Internet pageviews."

LOL cats. I Can Haz Ceeezburger. Ha. Have a good weekend, all!
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