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National Conference 2013: Celebrating the Work of C.S. Lewis
The Fight for Life: Why We Keep Standing
Bombing, Abortion, & Down Syndrome
Al Qaida has moved another step toward western standards of abortion barbarity in using Down Syndrome women to blow boys and girls to pieces. The news is that this was not suicide bombing, but the detonation of retarded girls at a distance.
The disgust one feels for the kind of heart that does this could reveal to England and America how we should feel when we screen for Down Syndrome babies and then kill them. Compare the stories:
Story One: al Qaida
At Breitbart.com (and most news sources), it is reported that yesterday al Qaida used two women with Down Syndrome to bear the explosives under their clothes and then were detonated remotely killing over 70 people.
T…
How Shall We Love Our Muslim Neighbor?
There are as many answers to this question as there are ways to do good and not wrong. “Love does no wrong to a neighbor” (Romans 13:10). “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Here are some things that, it seems to me, need to be emphasized in our day.
- Pray the fullest blessing of Christ on them whether they love you or not.
- Do good to them in practical ways that meet physical needs.
- Do not retaliate when personally wronged.
- Live peaceably with them as much as it depends on you.
- Pursue their joyful freedom from sin and from condemnation by telling them the truth…
Abortion Creates a Mission Field
Sometimes I fall into thinking of abortion as an American issue, or worse, an American political issue. Most of the stats I read, after all, are about abortions in this country. And when I consider voting for a candidate, one of my first questions is "Are they pro-life?"
So I find it helpful to remind myself that abortion is not American and it is most certainly not primarily political. Those stats are kids, not numbers. And the kids are from many colors, cultures, and countries.
Life International is a ministry that actively remembers that abortion is a world-wide scourge. They note,
Abortions in the U.S. and Canada (1.4 million) amount to 3% of abortions worldwide. …
So You Want to Be a Writer?
I got a letter recently from someone who hopes to be a writer. She says:
I get so frustrated with myself because even as I am typing, I think, "What am I doing? I can't write!" I would like to get published some day, but I don't even know how to start.
No 7-step list will guarantee a writer is formed out of a non-writer, but here are some suggestions, things that have been helpful for me.
1. Write!
The cliche answer is probably the best one—if you want to write, write. Don't think about publishing at first. And quit examining yourself and your ability. Don't worry about grammar and spelling at first. Just write. Anything. Journal. Letters. Blog. Keep a writing …
Rick Love Responds to Piper's Thoughts on "A Common Word"
Last week, we posted a video of John Piper discussing "A Common Word," a letter to Christians from Muslim scholars, and expressing his disappointment with the response to it that over 300 Christian leaders signed.
In the video, John mentions that he has friends among those who signed. We contacted some of them to ask if they would be willing to provide their rationale.
Rick Love, former International Director for Frontiers, has responded. (Please note that this is his personal response, not representative of Frontiers.)
* * *
Why I Signed the Yale Response to “A Common Word”
By Rick Love
Thank you, John, for inviting me to respond to your recent…
Something to Keep in Mind
"You can be so interested in great theological and intellectual and philosophical problems that you tend to forget that you are going to die."
-Martin Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, p. 193.
A Common Word Between Us?
John Piper discusses "A Common Word Between Us and You" and the response to it from 300 Christian leaders.
Update: For those unfamiliar with "A Common Word," it's a letter written to Christians by 138 Muslim scholars last October saying that love for God and love for neighbor is common ground between Christianity and Islam. The response from the Christian leaders, which John Piper finds disappointing, was published the following month.
Another Update: Justin Taylor suggests, "For those who want a fuller unpacking of Piper's views of these issues, I would recommend his essay, Tolerance, Truth-Telling, Violence, and Law: Principles for How Christians Should Relate to Those of Oth…
Perseverance and Eternal Security
Here is the voice of my father for 4 minutes on how final salvation is contingent on perseverance, and yet eternal security and assurance are possible. It comes from an exposition of Colossians 1:21-23.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
This is from the overflow of what I have been reading and …
Pray for the Third Wave
The end of abortion as a business is in sight when the prolife movement is not only joined by, but led by, the African-American and Latino Christian Community. I call it the Third Wave.
The First Wave of the modern prolife movement was the Catholic Church. In the late 60’s, as abortion “rights” were argued for in New York and California, many Catholic doctors, ethicists, and laypeople understood the horrifying truth of abortion and began to organize. They opened educational offices to explain fetal life; launched political efforts to elect prolife leaders and started “emergency pregnancy services” to help women struggling with pregnancy issues. The modern prolife movement was born. It …
Generous Conservatives
Surveys and statistics are maddeningly fickle. So don’t exult too much in what follows. I only cite it in case you have been discouraged or elated by surveys saying the opposite.
It’s better just to be a good follower of Jesus and not put your finger in the wind.
In the current issue of Books and Culture Jon Shields reviews the book, Who Really Cares, by Arthur C. Brooks which argues that religious conservatives (of all religious stripes) as opposed to liberals are more generous. Here are some quotes from the review.
Drawing on some ten data sets, Brooks finds that religiosity is among the best predictors of charitable giving. Religious Americans are not only much mo…
