Let’s face it, every day we are inundated with virtual reality, for good and bad. A few days ago, a close friend’s 13-year-old son was exposed to hardcore pornography when another child sitting by him on the school bus pulled it up on his iTouch. Both my friend’s son and his parents are very upset by the incident and can never scrub those images from his young brain.
The problems in public and even private schools continue to grow. This a yet another strong argument to homeschool your children.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled.” There are three particular components mentioned so far that protect against the doldrums, but not stated together, in regard to being filled: Do not compare yourself to others, work to your ability, commit yourself to the work of the Church which is righteousness.
Great thoughts from Travis Main on the spiritual doldrums, how to identify them and rekindle the zeal for God.
I've talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.
If the producer won't eat them, why should I?
A lot of alcoholics, and people who lean too heavily on booze, are shy, anxious types. As everyone knows, alcohol removes inhibitions. It enables introverted or inhibited people to become the life and soul of the party. It releases the funny and outgoing bits of the personality that are normally buttoned up. Alcohol can be liberating. The early drinks in the life of an alcoholic are often moments of revelation, never to be forgotten. Actually, whatever the drug is, the same thing applies. The drug acts like a medicine. It melts away fears and worries, and puts in their place a sense of security, warmth and calm.
Alcohol has no place, in any form or amount, in the life of a Christian. This article is a case in point.
Those countries with greater economic liberty and private property rights tend also to have stronger protections of human rights. And as an important side benefit of that greater economic liberty and human rights protections, their people are wealthier. We need to persuade our fellow man around the globe that liberty is a necessary ingredient for prosperity.
Add to that the cultural principles on which a country is based, and you have the recipe.
Have moved or will move. That’s what happens when you don’t have your own property. (And sometimes when you do.)
As well, in this latest GoSpeak mission report, Christian pilot Richard Santos makes a forced helo landing, daughter Leila goes to camp for the last time, and churches make plans during January’s vacation month.
Click on the link above for the GoSpeak site page that holds the PDF report.
Brazilian Police confiscated 300 realistic toy guns being sold in street stalls 200 meters from the national Catholic basicila of Aparecida, just down the highway from us about an hour. A 2003 law prohibits their manufacture or sale. The report said they came from China. The three vendors were "notified," says the report, which apparently means they were told it was illegal to sell the toys and were being relieved of their merchandise. Apparently they weren't even fined.
A policewoman said it would be hard to tell the toy items, which included fake machine guns, from the real thing, in a police operation. I guess crooks in Brazil don't actually fire their weapons, they just wave them to scare the police away.
Nobody asked how the illegal toys entered the country. Seems to me that would be a real story, but I guess investigative reporters are as extinct as the dodo bird.
Am I being cynical today, or what?
"We are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organizations."
Service comes naturally to Christians once they begin to appreciate all that has been done for them. As our love for the Christ grows deeper our desire to serve him rises too. It is a natural maturing of our faith that we seek to imitate our Lord in all ways. As he loved and served so we love and serve; we do things that put others first even at discomfort and inconvenience to ourselves.
Let us burn the words of this good brother into our hearts. His whole article deserves a close and careful reading, not once, but twice. And not once does he mention servant leaders! Good for him, since the Bible doesn't either. Click the link above and read it in its entirety.