Christianity Today has two great articles up. One of them is on God's "terrifying grace" and the other is on the issue of banning a "gruesome" church project that shows mutilated fetuses.
Here is a great quote from the first article:
"Would I be accepted if I told all? That's the question. We long to be accepted, to be in the company of someone who will not blink regardless of what we say. But long ago we came to believe that this isn't possible. At some point we have all chosen to share a vulnerable secret, only to later endure humiliation or shame. So now we live with a low-grade fear that somebody is going to find out something about us we do not wish to reveal. It's a fear that nags us for life.
Bringing God into the picture does not seem to help at first. But bring him in we must, because a key attribute of God is his omniscience (lit. "all knowledge")—that he knows everything, in particular everything about us. Jesus makes this clear time and again when he says things like, "Your Father knows what you need" (Matt. 6:8). He admitted that while his own knowledge was temporarily limited—for example, he does not know the "day or hour" of his own return—the Father does know (Mark 13:32). Jesus always frames God's complete knowledge as a point of comfort, but if we're honest with ourselves, we see that we aren't always comforted."
Read the rest here.
Also, on the issue of the gruesome display of mutilated fetuses while there is a church service, I think that it would not be wise for those who oppose abortion, like I do, to go and disrupt a church service. While I am all for exposing the truth about this gruesome murder of unborn children, I would not advise that the group disrupt the service in such a manner. Also, free speech doesn't just mean the freedom to say what others want heard. It means the freedom to say things that would otherwise be uncomfortable to speak. If the group did this thing peacefully, they should be free to speak what they want, so long as they don't hurt anyone's life, liberty, and property in doing so. Also, why is the Supreme Court in this issue anyway?
Here is a great quote from the first article:
"Would I be accepted if I told all? That's the question. We long to be accepted, to be in the company of someone who will not blink regardless of what we say. But long ago we came to believe that this isn't possible. At some point we have all chosen to share a vulnerable secret, only to later endure humiliation or shame. So now we live with a low-grade fear that somebody is going to find out something about us we do not wish to reveal. It's a fear that nags us for life.
Bringing God into the picture does not seem to help at first. But bring him in we must, because a key attribute of God is his omniscience (lit. "all knowledge")—that he knows everything, in particular everything about us. Jesus makes this clear time and again when he says things like, "Your Father knows what you need" (Matt. 6:8). He admitted that while his own knowledge was temporarily limited—for example, he does not know the "day or hour" of his own return—the Father does know (Mark 13:32). Jesus always frames God's complete knowledge as a point of comfort, but if we're honest with ourselves, we see that we aren't always comforted."
Read the rest here.
Also, on the issue of the gruesome display of mutilated fetuses while there is a church service, I think that it would not be wise for those who oppose abortion, like I do, to go and disrupt a church service. While I am all for exposing the truth about this gruesome murder of unborn children, I would not advise that the group disrupt the service in such a manner. Also, free speech doesn't just mean the freedom to say what others want heard. It means the freedom to say things that would otherwise be uncomfortable to speak. If the group did this thing peacefully, they should be free to speak what they want, so long as they don't hurt anyone's life, liberty, and property in doing so. Also, why is the Supreme Court in this issue anyway?
