The Mover

O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state that I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I merit.

Who made me to differ, but thee?
for I was no more ready to receive Christ than were others;
I could not have begun to love thee hadst thou not first loved me,
or been willing unless thou hadst first made me so.

Let 'wrath deserved' be written on the door of hell,
But 'the free gift of grace' on the gate of heaven.

- excerpts from 'The Valley of Vision'

Christmas 'Break' Readings

Although I have graduated, it still seems like a got a mini-Christmas break this year. I've been reading some powerful texts from the prophets.

"But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They have made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words whcih the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore the great wrath came from the Lord of hosts." - Zechariah 7:11-12

A text that reminds me of being a sinner. These words were written by Zechariah the prophet warning people of who they are serving and what has been going on.

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.' " - Zechariah 8:7-8

A text of hope and promise of the Lord.

" ' A son honors father, and a servanth His master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the Lord of hosts" - Malachi 1:6

Another text of warning to the rebellious people. Malachi 1:8-9 has a similar warning, with the example that if you're able to give the best to your governor to please him, why are you giving poor offering to your God. Later in the book, even during judgement and warning, Malachi 2:14-16 shows us the Lord's value of marriage, He as a witness of the covenant and the Spirit as 'binder'. " 'For I hate divorce (sending away),' says the Lord." That was really neat to learn glean from the passage, although the overall theme of the book is not towards marriage.

Some Christmas Bounty

God has been gracious over the Christmas break. He has been a God of provision through the workings of family and friends. Listed below are some of the books that received for Christmas. While I am proud of these gifts, I hope that they will give you new ideas of authors to read, maybe a new avenue of good reading to be had.

C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves













C.S. Lewis - The Great Divorce













Jerry Bridges - The Gospel for Real Life













Randy Alcorn - The Grace and Truth Paradox













Jerry Bridges - The Discipline of Grace

Merry Christmas

After the weighty post below, not to take away any of the seriousness, but I wanted to wish all:

Merry Christmas!

The Disappearing Doctrine of Hell

I read this after seeing the link to Al Mohler's website on Chris's blog:

"Belief in hell is fast disappearing in Scotland, according to press reports. Reporter Donald MacLeod points to the fact that one third of Scottish clergy "still believe in the existence of hell." Of course, that means that the other two-thirds have decided against hell.

From MacLeod's article in The Guardian [London]:

Eric Stoddart, a lecturer in practical theology at St Andrews University, surveyed 750 randomly selected clergy and found that 37% believed in hell, although this was more marked in the Highlands and Western Isles, where conservative, Presbyterian congregations predominate.
"The doctrine of hell is downplayed by most of today's churches even by those who still believe in it. It isn't viewed as very politically correct even by a new generation of more theologically conservative ministers," said Dr Stoddart, who commented that there was a conspiracy of silence on the subject.

This is consistent with what is happening in the United States as well. Hell has become an odium theologicum -- an odious doctrine that is just too politically-incorrect for modern taste. Many preachers just find a way never to mention it. Or, as one wag has observed, they just air-condition hell, denying that it is a place of everlasting torment.

Look at this fascinating section of the article:

Dr Stoddart is interested in how belief in hell affects everyday life and is keen to hear from ordinary Christians as well. He said: "I'm interested in how people handle their belief in hell. If you believe (or are told you should believe) your grandmother is going to hell because she is not a Christian, how do you deal with that? Do you dehumanise her or psychologically distance yourself in order to accept her fate? How is it possible to go about daily life while believing that a loved-one has entered eternal suffering? When most hell-believing Christians are likely to encounter the death of 'non-Christian' loved-ones it is striking that it is a subject rarely tackled. No one talksabout this aspect. There is something of a conspiracy of silence."

Dr. Stoddartis interested in how the relational aspects of human life influence an individual's belief in hell -- and vice versa. At the Web site for his research project, Hell: The Pastoral Implications, he comments:

I concluded that the pain that arises from believing in hell whilst suspecting that your loved-ones might already be there is something that churches fail to recognise. There's something of a conspiracy of silence when it comes to acknowledging that it might apply to real, actual people rather than just an anonymous group called 'the lost'.

The knowledge of what hell really represents is a humbling consciousness that leads to heartbreak and serves as an impetus to evangelism. Those who deny the reality of hell will bear some real responsibility for the fact that so many will be found there.

Ezekiel 3:16-21

A very good article to compliment this is one of John Piper's on DesiringGod.org:

'Dorothy Sayers on Why Hell in Non-Negotiable'

Comment: Is this the same St. Andrews that PCM read about in 'St. Andrew's Seven' this summer in our missions Bible study?

The Chronicles of Narnia

My wife and I went to see the movie last nite, along with my brother and some of his friends. It was a good movie, not great, but good. It did have some very powerful moments in there. Those key moments were awesome.
It's hard when everyone has seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and how well done those movies were done. The LOTR series had such excellent detail, imagery, and direction, it was an awesome series really. Well, I'm not saying Narnia doesn't have any of this, it's hard to hold up to that series. Maybe that's the problem, it may be 'Lord of the Rings Lite', but it really is probably directed to a different genre or audience.
It is toned down, you notice there will be no blood, even for the great sacrifice. (* I'm being vague to not ruin any storylines intentionally). The children are the main story line, even if they are going to battle later in the film.
The allusions that some of the things in the film holds, they can be very powerful. Edmund's treason and betrayal. Aslan and his actions. I think the being of Aslan was just very powerful, the respect to he was on film and Who is portraying. And what Aslan does, wow.
It was definitely worth seeing, but as a film, won't take the place of LOTR for me. But some of those moments in Narnia are just chilling due to imagery it holds and the power of the imagery.

A Link to the Movie site:
http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/index.html

Wedding Announcement

Mr. and Mrs. Blinson

Blinson - Madden

Megan Ashleigh Madden and Joshua Lee Blinson were married October 22, 2005, at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh. Reverend Chip Bugnar officiated their ceremony.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Madden of Apex. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herb Hilsinger of Kinston, and Mrs. Kiyoko Madden of Holly Springs and the late Mr. Madden.
Parents of the groom are Mr. and Mrs. Mel Blinson of Raleigh. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. L.W. Sharp of Raleigh, and Mr. and Mrs. Shelton Blinson of Raleigh.
The couple will live in Raleigh, having completed their honeymoon to Topsail Island.

- Isaiah 46:9-10 -

* sorry for the delay, this is 'official' unofficial announcement *