HARMLESS THOUGHTS

[HT: True Grit ]

by John Piper [ original article ] "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." - Jesus Christ 1. Existing fetal homicide laws make a man guilty of manslaughter if he kills the baby in a mother's womb (except in the case of abortion). 2. Fetal surgery is performed on babies in the womb to save them while another child the same age is being legally destroyed. 3. Babies can sometimes survive on their own at 23 or 24 weeks, but abortion is legal beyond this limit. 4. Living on its own is not the criterion of human personhood, as we know from the use of respirators and dialysis. 5. Size is irrelevant to human personhood, as we know from the difference between a one-week-old and a six-year-old. 6. Developed reasoning powers are not the criterion of personhood, as we know from the capacities of three-month-old babies. 7. Infants in the womb are human beings scientifically by virtue of their genetic make up. 8. Ultrasound has given a stunning window on the womb th...

During this next quarter I am requiring my 9th/10th Bible class read one book. I have a list of choices for them, but I am willing to allow others. It can't be a story, it has to be a "teaching" book. So, I decided to join them in this endeavor. The book that I am going to be reading is called Humility and it is by Andrew Murray. I am pretty excited about reading this book because it is a classic, and I love classics. I opened up the book today and already found a great quote: The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is its lack of humility. I will give you some updates as I read this book.

Special thanks to a former student for sending me to RefTagger . With RefTagger I can type in a scripture reference, like John 3:16 for example, and it will automatically add a hyper link and it will even add a hover window of the scripture's text. (Is that what you call it? A "hover window"?) Check it out .

I joined the "Biggest Loser" competition at our school. I am not sure how many people are competing, but there are a few moms, a dad, and some of the other teachers. Along with the dad, I am the only other male competitor. I had been dieting before Christmas Break, but I fell dove off that boat during the holiday. It is really hard to diet on Christmas Break! Well, now I am back on. Our first weigh-in was Friday, January 16th. I weighed in heavier than I have ever weighed. I was at 201.4 lbs.!! Last week I weighed in at 196.2 lbs. That means in the first week I lost 5.2 lbs.! And I think that I was the biggest loser of the week! I am feeling pretty good about that. But, can I keep it up for 13 weeks? The most difficult thing for me is that I just genuinely love food. Eating is one of my most favorite things to do. So, this is really, really hard. Choosing to eat less and to eat the right kinds of things is a real practice of self-discipline. Well, I will try to k...

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" Hebrews 12:7 I ran across this verse last night. It was just what I needed.

Everybody could use a little validation. I wish I could remember which blog I saw this on... I would give them credit.

"We are what we repeatedly do." -Aristotle That is a hard saying to hear. It is especially difficult if the things you repeatedly do are not good things. One of the wonderful things about the gospel is that true change can happen. Psalm 19:7 states, "The Law of the Lord is perfect converting (transforming) the soul (the nephesh - the inmost being) ". God's word is so complete that it can transform you at your very core. This is why Paul states in one of his epistles, "... and such were some of you." ( I Cor. 6:9-11 ) That is what we were! In other words... You can go to an AA meeting and instead of saying, "Hi. My name is ________ and I'm an Alcoholic..." you can say, "Hi! My name is _________ and I'm NOT an Alcoholic... I used to be, but not anymore!" Praise God for new identities! With all of that said, I still agree with Aristotle. I just believe that the thought shouldn't end there.

Here is an A.W. Tozer quote for you: (As Quoted by Jim Berg in the book, Changed Into His Image) The struggle of the Christian man to be good while the bent toward self-assertion still lives within him as a kind of unconscious moral reflex is vividly described by the apostle Paul in the seventh chapter of his Roman Epistle; and his testimony is in full accord with the teaching of the Prophets. Eight hundred years before the advent of Christ the prophet Isaiah identified sin as a rebellion against the will of God and the assertion of the right of each man to choose for himself the way he should go. "All we like sheep have gone astray," he said, "we have turned everyone to his own way," and I believe that no more accurate description of sin has ever been given. The witness of the saints has been in full harmony with prophet and apostle, that an inward principle of self lies at the source of human conduct, turning everything men do into evil . To save us completely ...

In chapel this morning, I was telling a kickball story as an illustration.  The story came from way back to the neighborhood kickball days.  So, to help them get a good mental picture of me during those days, I drudged up an old home video.   At the risk of some mockage, here is that video: (Keep in mind that I was around 13 yrs. old in this video.

The wind blew the basketball hoop over in the middle of the night.  I didn't realize it until the next day.  When I came out in the morning, this is what I saw. I titled this post "providence" because that is the first word that popped into my mind.  When I showed this picture to one of my students, that is the first word that he said as well.  I have to admit, it is very providential. I wanted to write a neat, in-depth post... bringing about some interesting perspective on providence, that brought it all back to that picture... that picture that brought me a great epiphany... But, I am tired and I am just thankful that it didn't break anything.  I guess, in a way, that is what providence should be about anyway.

I want to take some time to put up some of my favorite Christmas pics, but I haven't had the opportunity.  Here, at least, are the videos of the "surprises" on the parents.  They weren't expecting us to be home for Christmas!

I was talking about disorders with some people the other day.  Somebody mentioned that there was a disorder for everything... I have to agree. I don't think that it is wrong at all to give a name to a set of problems.  It isn't even wrong to use a nice psychological name, and tack the word, "disorder" onto the end of the title.  Isn't that what we are all about anyway?  Aren't we all a little marred from the original order? (...therefore, we are in a state of "dis"order...)  To hear another description of our messed up psychological state, try reading Romans 3:10-18. Well, I wanted to share the name of a disorder with you, and its description.  The name of this disorder is Paranoid Personality Disorder.  Here is the description: Paranoid personality disorder is listed in the DSM-IV-TR as 301.00 Paranoid Personality Disorder. According to the DSM-IV-TR, this disorder is characterized by a pervasive distrust and suspicion of others such that their moti...