Lucid Theology

Take a look at this news special featuring 92 year-old Pauline Jacobi who, when being threatened, gave the thief an unexpected gift.

(HT: Challies)

I know this is a bit late for many individuals already, but I simply cannot help myself in not putting it on here. Watch this clip of Trinity vs. Millsaps in Mississippi on October 27, 2007. The score was 22 (Trinity), 24 (Millsaps). These are two college division 3 football teams. With two seconds remaining on the clock and on their 39-yard line, Trinity had very little options to go with.

This has to be one of the best–if not the best–play in football history. I’m not going to spoil for you . . . simply watch.

Here’s a beautiful summation by John Piper of what the gospel is:

Transcript:

What’s the Gospel?

What’s the gospel? I’ll put it in a sentence.

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy.

That’s the gospel.

You Can’t Outgrow the Gospel

You never, never, never outgrow your need for it. Don’t ever think of the gospel as, “That’s the way you get saved, and then you get strong by leaving it and doing something else.”

No! We are strengthened by God through the gospel every day, till the day we drop.

You never outgrow the need to preach to yourself the gospel.

How the Gospel Strengthens

Here’s an illustration, and I use it not because it’s any big deal to speak from my life, but because it’s what I walked through and where I most pointedly in the last year experienced the power of the gospel to make me strong. (Many of you are walking through things much heavier than prostate cancer—much heavier.)

Do you remember the verses that I shared with you back in February that were almighty for me? It was that moment right after the doctor says, “I think we need to do a biopsy,” when this stab of fear comes. It didn’t last long, mercifully.

And then came—what? 1Thessalonians 5:9-10. It’s just as pure gospel as you can get.

God has not destined you for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for you so that whether you wake or sleep you will live with him.

Settled. Peace like a river.

The Gospel Is Perfect for Your Needs

That’s just gospel—perfectly timed, perfectly applied, perfectly suited to my need. That’s why the Bible is so thick—because there are so many different needs that you have. And there are suitable places where the gospel is unfolded for you, so that if you immerse yourself in the whole book, always with an eye for what Christ has wrought for you and purchased for you in this thick, glorious history of God’s interaction with people, he will give you what you need.

Therefore, everything in me says, and I hope to say until the day I die, “Now, to him who is able to strengthen me, according to Paul’s gospel, to him—to that God—be glory forever and ever.”

God came into history in Jesus Christ; he died in order to destroy the power of hell and death and Satan and sin; and he did it through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Plea to Believe

I know that there are people reading this who are not trusting Jesus Christ, and therefore can only expect condemnation. So I’m just going to plead with you here at the end, lay down that rebellion. Lay it down. And simply embrace the gospel that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Righteous One, died for your sins. He was raised on the third day, triumphant over all his enemies. He reigns until he puts all of his enemies under his feet. Forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God comes freely through him alone, by faith alone.

I plead with you, don’t try to be strong in your own strength; it will not be there when you need it. Only one strength will be there—the strength that God gives according to the gospel.

Don’t put it off.

John MacArthur recently was on CNN along with Doug Pagitt (of Solomon’s Porch) as they responded to the idea of Christians doing yoga. The responses are very interesting,. Take a look:

Christian joy is the satisfaction in God that sustains the believer through any trial. Jesus endured the cross by pursuing this joy, and we too may find, by God’s grace, that delighting in him is our only, but entirely sufficient, hope in sorrow. The pursuit of this pleasure in God is not a frivolous chasing after fleeting pleasures, but a rock-solid, mature, and truly happy, Christ-exalting endeavor.

What if we believe this but our emotions do not motivate us to seek God? Such is the continual struggle of sanctification. We must fight for joy, because delight in God is the hallmark of Christianity. But it is also a gift only given by God’s grace. What, then, does it mean to fight for what can only be freely given? In these messages, John Piper answers this overarching question and others on both a deeply spiritual level and the most practical, so that when you don’t desire God you will know how to fight for joy.

On Sunday, August 19, 2007, Virgina Tech commenced the school year by having a memorial service for the 32 victims who lost their lives on April 16, 2007. It has only been four months and the pain and anguish for these students remain. We who know the Lord can trust in the sovereignty of God that indeed all things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. As long as we tread this earth we will experience trials and pains, but the glorious reality remains that we have a hope that is real and unchanging. May God draw people to Himself.

We are to fall face down before God and intercede for these students at VT who do not know the Lord. Though we might not have all the answers, we do have one: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent by the Father to die on Calvary in our stead so that we might dwell in His house forever. We stand on solid rock.

“BLACKSBURG, Va. — The school year at Virginia Tech opened somberly Sunday as a bell tolled 32 times in memory of students, faculty and staff killed April 16 in the nation’s most deadly school shooting.

Thousands of students, teachers and members of the community, many crying and most wearing the school colors of maroon and orange, gathered on the Drillfield, the quadrangle at the heart of campus, as university President Charles Steger dedicated 32 memorial stones to the victims.

“They will forever occupy a special place,” he told the families of the victims.

Steger urged students and faculty to keep learning, teaching and serving the community.”

Read full story>>

From very early on I was fascinated by Robin Williams as he voiced “Genie” in Disney’s Aladdin. I loved Mrs. Doubtfire and who can forget Patch Adams? Recently he voiced “Ramon” on the clikity-clak movie Happy Feet starring Elijah Wood which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film.

Remember “size can be daunting, but don’t be afraid. I love you. I LOVE YOU.”

I heard of C.J. Mahaney a few years ago—and thank God that I did. His ministry, along with others, has played an influential role in taking my eyes off myself and putting them back on the cross. In 2005, C.J. handed down the role of Senior Pastor of Covenant Life Church to his young protegé, Josh Harris. During that day, the church gave him this honor in thanking him for his faithful ministry to them. [Check out my review of his book The Cross Centered Life]

PART 1

PART 2

(HT: Provocations and Paintings)

Recently I posted an article on a family who had 17 children (The Gift of [17] Children). While I know there’s a blessing in having kids, I also know the stress it can put on a dad–not because I have kids, but because I am a son. Enough said.

With the cries and whining how does a dad cope. . . with the rearranging of Pachelbel’s Canon in D classic:

Michael Girado, I dedicate this video to you and to your Emery Grace.

One night I had wanted to see what was on TV and saw something peculiar on PBS. It was this broadcast on music playing from pipes and balls and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I stared and was in utter amazement at how technology as progressed so much. I couldn’t believe it—it was too good to be true. It was. Check it out.

The company is called Animusic:

Animusic is a content creation company. Our principal focus is the production of 3D computer graphics music animation. We primarily create original content, such as our “video album”, but have also produced animation for clients.

Both the graphics and the music are entirely digitally synthesized. Virtual instruments are invented by building computer graphics models of objects that would appear to create the sound of the corresponding music synthesizer track. Graphical instruments range from being reminiscent of existing instruments to arbitrarily abstract.

During the Sailfish Cup (2006-2007), the guys at Pembroke (that’s us), did a lipsync for Shrek’s Holding Out For A Hero. We tied for first place with the guys at Oceanview Hall.

Who’s ready for a bright Christmas with a beat?

The company Blendtec, in order to demonstrate how powerful their blenders are, have undertaken the task of blending virtually everything and anything using the their blender . . . seriously.

Do you want iSmoke?

The genius’s at the PBA School of Science came up with a neat invention. Why pluck your eyes when you can simply get Lust Goggles?

During the Sailfish Cup at PBA (2006-2007), the guys at ODP came up with a very creative “love story.” So good were they that they tied first place with us at Pembroke. Good job guys.

This is a message given by Paul Washer of the Heart Cry Missionary Society. He was invited to preach at a church; so shocking and confrontational was the message that he has (to this day) never been invited again to preach there. This message was delivered to the 2002 Youth Evangelism Conference in Montgomery, Alabama. His text that evening was Matthew 7:13-27. [You can read the sermon in pdf format here].