Free to Live. What “living free” does and does not look like. Dr. Olson was my class chaplain four years in college.
To My Gay Angry Friend written by a former homosexual who became a believer in Christ and turned from the lifestyle.
Missionary Wives Furlough Q&A, HT to Kim. Missionary wives answers questions about what has helped and hurt while on furlough. Excellent reading if your church supports missionaries!
Spoiler Alert: What God Is Teaching Me Through the Olympics. It’s hard not to hear or see headlines about the Olympics when you’re trying to wait to see the broadcasts. Here’s what one woman learned as a result of knowing ahead of time what would happen.
5 Problems With Unconditional Forgiveness, HT to Challies. It has always bothered me when a victim of a horrible crime publicly forgives the offender when there has been no sign of remorse, and this post explains very well why that is. We should make provision for forgiveness and be ready to offer it, just as God does, but He also does not grant it until repentance occurs.
“Meaningful Suspense” is author Adam Blumer‘s tagline, and he explains here that Christian fiction should be more than just entertainment.
Master Craftsmen by Randy Alcorn deftly defends Christian fiction against the charge of being “predictable, sugar-coated, preachy, and poorly written!” I’ve been enjoying Christian fiction for almost 40 years, and always wince at that kind of charge.
Since I was first deeply moved by reading Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot about her husband and four other missionaries who were speared to death by the Indians they were trying to reach, I’ve been fascinated and tried to read everything I could get my hands on in connection with this incident and these people. One of the earliest books was The Dayuma Story. Dayuma was a young woman who had escaped from the tribe then known as the Aucas, now the Waorani. She had helped the missionaries learn some Auca terms and eventually she and Rachel Saint (brother of Nate, one of the five) and Elisabeth went to live with the Aucas. I had read in this book about Rachel being honored on the old program This Is Your Life. I don’t think she had seen it before or knew quite what it was, and I remember she wrote something about her brother whispering in her ear during a commercial that she needed to watch the time and keep things moving because the host, Ralph Edwards, had a limited amount of time with a live show to try to get everything in. Of course, Rachel was also busy trying to translate what was going on to Dayuma, who was with her. Well….I don’t remember how I came across the blog Theology For Girls, but I saw a link to a post concerning this program and had to check it out. This lady’s uncle was one of the guests on that episode, and she had recently discovered the entire episode had been uploaded to YouTube! It was such a joy to watch. It’s amazing that the show was so favorable to the gospel and the work Rachel was doing. And the commercials are pretty funny, too. 🙂
I have a question for those of you who have me on Google Reader: on some blogs I have there I see what looks like separate posts with the blogger’s links from Delicious in between their regular posts. Do you see that with mine? I was thinking if they show up there it is kind of redundant to put them here on Saturdays.
Also, a few weeks ago I had a link to vote for my assistant pastor to win a handicap-accessible van. Thanks to those who voted. Unfortunately he did not win but is trusting God to supply some other way.
Here is my weekly round-up of interesting things seen round the Web:
Steve Saint, author of End of the Spear and son of Nate Saint who was killed with Jim Elliot and three other missionaries by the Indian tribe they were trying to reach in the late 50s or early 60s, was paralyzed in a serious accident last week. Here is his testimony just six days later:
I Was Confronted For Being Immodest. I really appreciate Courtney’s response here, even though the woman who confronted her did not go about it in the best way. It’s a reminder that sometimes women who wear something less than modest don’t realize it’s a problem and they’re not doing so on purpose. A gracious follow-up to that was My Feelings About the Woman Who Confronted Me.
Free audiobooks. Author Adam Blumer had a link to this on his Facebook page. Evidently they put up a different book for free every week or so — this week’s is Sense and Sensibility!
If you are familiar with Star Trek beyond the original series, you might get a smile from this:
This is from the Galkin team. The Galkins, as well as the former youth pastor from our church and a few other families, are planning to move to Salt Lake City later this year to plant a Baptist Church there. The young man who first starts singing here was in our older two sons’ youth group in SC. It’s exciting to see how the Lord is opening the way for them!
Carrie reviews Why Isn’t a Pretty Girl Like You Married? in two parts: Part I and Part II. I haven’t read the book but I like the thoughts Carrie shares.
A few weeks ago I asked you to consider voting here for our assistant pastor in a contest to win a handicap accessible van. I think the contest runs for another week or so. This would be a big help to them as their current one needs to be replaced soon. His story is here:
You might pray for his family as you feel led: his wife has suffered two tears in the membrane covering her spinal cord, resulting in fluid leakage and severe head and back pain. She had a procedure done last night that will hopefully fix it. Her own health and well-being is a major concern, but she’s also the mother of two young children and Bobby’s caregiver, and she has been in pain and out of commission for 10 days now.
And lastly, I thought this sounded like a good idea. 🙂
Hope you have a good weekend. I’m running behind, so I am off to get things done.
From a Father’s Heart. Quote: “But even the best intervention will not insure a life without pain for any of our children. So, we fathers do well, not only to protect, but to prepare our sons and daughters to meet the inevitable heartbreak that weave their way into the tapestry of the lives of our offspring.”
Don’t Mistake Doing What You Love With Doing What’s Important. Quote: “Someone has to lift up the value and significance of showing up every day, being responsible, doing your job and taking care of business. There’s something strong, solid, and respectable about it.”
The Illness Idol, HT to Chris Anderson. Quote: “Illness is an idol that can engulf all my waking time and attention. It can breed self-absorption and suck up all of my limited strength, attention and energies…. It suffocates and would choke-out my interest and desire to serve God with my limited strength.” He offers a prayer in response.
You Make Me Feel So Guilty! Good thoughts on true guilt, false guilt, the error of comparing ourselves, and what to do about each.
Stray Thoughts 