Spurgeon - Morning and Evening (December 1)

Morning



Evening

An Ignorant, Profane, Soul-flattering Clergy

A Puritan Audio Devotional by Thomas Brooks
[gracegems.org]

Quotes about the Bible (Part 6)

"Whatever view of the Bible you take, if you are to be in any way obedient to the Bible you cannot make the Bible itself the centre or focus of your attention. It points away from itself. From the Christian point of view, the centre of attention can never be merely the Bible; it must always be Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Lord of the World."
Tom Wright
Bishop of Durham and Vice-President of The Bible Society

"God's Word, which is all about Jesus Christ, can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We are sinful and unable to remedy our condition, but from God comes the incredible, limitless power that can transform our lives."
John MacArthur
Truth for Today, 2001

ACLU

Recently, I read an article about the American Civil Liberties Union a.k.a. ACLU regarding its disregard for the moral fabric woven by America's forefathers. It's obviously not an ACLU publication, written with a Christian slant, so I decided to check out ACLU's website and see for myself. I found their position on freedom of expression on this page: http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/11178pub19970102.html

You may read it yourself but if you don't have the time, I've highlighted a few things that may be telling (my commentary found in parentheses)...

• Finally, in 1969, in Brandenberg v. Ohio, the Supreme Court struck down the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan member, and established a new standard: Speech can be suppressed only if it is intended, and likely to produce, "imminent lawless action." (is it possible that this may be too late?) Otherwise, even speech that advocates violence is protected. The Brandenberg standard prevails today.
  

• The ACLU has often been at the center of controversy for defending the free speech rights of groups that spew hate, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis. But if only popular ideas were protected, we wouldn't need a First Amendment. History teaches that the first target of government repression is never the last. If we do not come to the defense of the free speech rights of the most unpopular among us, even if their views are antithetical to the very freedom the First Amendment stands for, then no one's liberty will be secure. In that sense, all First Amendment rights are "indivisible." (Is it just me, or does it sound like ACLU is ok with hate speech?) Censoring so-called hate speech also runs counter to the long-term interests of the most frequent victims of hate: racial, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. We should not give the government the power to decide which opinions are hateful, for history has taught us that government is more apt to use this power to prosecute minorities than to protect them. As one federal judge has put it, tolerating hateful speech is "the best protection we have against any Nazi-type regime in this country." (please explain this reasoning to me, because I thought it was the toleration of hateful speech that led to the Holocaust.)
  

• Legally "obscene" material has historically been excluded from First Amendment protection. Unfortunately, the relatively narrow obscenity exception, described below, has been abused by government authorities and private pressure groups...the fact is, the obscenity exception to the First Amendment is highly subjective and practically invites government abuse. (instead of allowing government to ban questionable obscene material, ACLU would rather allow it all.)

The third bullet point leads to this letter written by ACLU to two judges regarding the Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002:
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/speech/14793leg20020508.html

This is the conclusion of the letter:

• Government can and should outlaw the abuse of children. However, it cannot ban speech simply because that speech may encourage unlawful acts...The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.

Again, the spirit of ACLU is to allow anything, good or bad, until someone gets provably hurt. Isn't child pornography, real or virtual or in whatever form, just plain wrong? Is this questionable morality? One reason for their fight for freedom seem to stem from a distrust of government, which is understandable and even admirable. We need to check and hold the "powers that be" accountable. Yet, in ACLU's fight for freedom for the people, they have ironically taken away the rights and freedom of those who hold certain moral convictions. They have taken away the right and freedom to enjoy a safe, decent, righteous, virtuous, pure, and moral society. They have, in effect, become a "power that be", defining what is good and right for all people, allowing all sorts of misbehavior and immorality for the sake of certain "freedoms".

ACLU's intentions may be good, but their ideology is fatally misguided. The result of a nation that neither honors God nor cherish His commandments, which are intended for our good, is destruction. Whether it comes by slow moral decay or quick severe judgment, God's blessing and protection on this land will be removed, unless we, as a nation repent of our disobedience to His Word. Repent and turn to Christ while there is still time, while His hand of mercy is still upon you.

Quotes about the Bible (Part 5)

"All that I am I owe to Jesus Christ, revealed to me in His divine book."
David Livingstone (1813-1873)
Scottish Doctor, Missionary and Explorer of Africa

"God the Father is the giver of Holy Scripture; God the Son is the theme of Holy Scripture; and God the Spirit is the author, authenticator, and interpreter of Holy Scripture."
James I. Packer
British Evangelical Theologian and Writer

Perspective

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008 - A post from my co-worker and sister in Christ, Freda Tao:
"Miss you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... with tears in my eyes, I have to share a sad news.. Bentley has earned his wings tonight at 7:45pm with Chris & Austin, Dan and I . .. and also grandpa & grandma (my parents).... by his side. I believed he's now having fun again in heaven...

Bentley will be forever missed... but it's a great comfort to know that he's now in a much better place with Jesus. During his 3 months & 22 days of battle, I kept thinking about why.... All I have thought about is he must have a very important job from God. I always told Chris & Austin that Bentley is Jesus' 'spykid'. He has a mission for Jesus... and I think his mission is to show daddy how much God is in control and it's good to believe & trust in God. After all these years... Dan finally accepted Jesus into his heart last night... in front of family and pastor ... & Bentley.

"Good job! Bentley!"... I'm just so proud of you...
Thank you everyone for your support & cheers...
More information about the viewing & service will be announce soon..."

http://www.icouldbeyourchild.org/liftedup.htm
(Bentley's picture is at the very bottom...)

I followed Freda and her family's struggle and hardship through her posts on Xanga since August. This is an excerpt from August 3: "Bentley is trying to calm himself down & try to deal with his weakness & fear.... But he knows Jesus loves him. Pray for Bentley... my very special boy... Just found out he had a tumor in his brain." Through this difficulty, it's natural for us to doubt that God is in control. We often ask why bad things happen to good people. But through these struggles, God willing, we see that there exists something greater, greater than we can wrap our minds around. He has granted Freda to see the situation from a greater perspective. Instead of cursing God, she blesses Him because a greater good arose from a tragic situation.

Our loving Father will have His way at the end of it all. That is why we benefit from surrendering to Him. At the end of it all, it is God who will receive all the glory, honor, and praise. It's to this end that we live and breathe. It's to this end that God inspired Paul to write in 1 Corinthians 10, "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Be encouraged, brothers and sisters, that we who are in Christ are merely passing through this present world, for our citizenship is in Heaven. Our trials and hardships are temporary, as is the desires of this world, so keep your minds on things above, not on things below. With the limited time that we have here, let's do all to the glory of God, blessing others and leading them to the living Christ, knowing that His name will be praised forever and ever.

Paul Washer Project