Job 6:28

"But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face" (Job 6:28).

Glorifying Youth and Stupidity

Take away the laughing audience and polish up the language a bit, and I think there's a sermon in there somewhere. 1 Corinthians 13:11 comes to mind.


(via 22 Words)

A Little Biblical Anger Management

(From my blog White Noise.)

Proverbs 18:19

(from the Bureau of Communication)

Lamentations 5:12

Proverbs 23:20-21

Proverbs 3:6

(via)

Is There a Plan B for My Life?

(via)

Galatians 5:14

Letter to a Dying Teenager

The following was included in this morning's Grace Gems e-mail:

Letter to a Dying Teenager
(Excerpt from a letter of Legh Richmond to his dying teenage son, 1824)

My ever dear son,

You are never out of my thoughts -- but there is an eye which beholds and watches over you, in a way that I cannot do. To Him I confide and commend you, for sickness and health, for time and eternity.

What a word, what a thought, is ETERNITY! What prospects does it set before us! What inconceivable mysteries are involved in it! How does it make the things of time dwindle into insignificance! What questions of unspeakable importance, are involved in it!

Sin, a corrupt nature, a broken law, an offended God, eternal punishment, conscience, guilt, regeneration, salvation by Christ, faith, hope, love, free grace, undeserved mercy, justification, effectual calling, adoption into God's family, pardon of sin, consolation in Christ, heaven and glory! These, and a thousand accompaniments, are all connected with the idea and the reality of ETERNITY!

What a sad proof of the depravity of our heart -- is our indifference towards thinking upon things which belong to our everlasting peace; and which, if neglected, involve our eternal ruin! We need warnings -- and the Lord sends them in many ways. Sickness, pain, bereavements, losses, disappointments -- all bring their message with them.

The great question between our souls and God is not whether we admit the truths of the Scripture into our understandings -- but whether they are so applied to our hearts -- so as to have wrought a change, and become vital principles of faith and practice. Nothing short of this can afford evidence of a saved and safe condition.

Be much in prayer and self-examination. The more we see of ourselves -- the more we see our sin. And the more we see our sin -- the more we flee to the death and righteousness of Christ -- for pardon, deliverance, and hope! Let nothing interrupt you in this continual work of self-examination; and let self-examination lead you to earnest and ardent prayer. Let no pursuits of literature, no delights of sense, no passing occurrences, no debility of body, no inferior subjects of recreation, prevent you from keeping your thoughts close to God and to eternity!

You have arrived at an age when many dangerous temptations will assail you, and you will be put to the test -- whether your heart is right with God. You are thrown upon the world and its seductions, and you will find indeed, that it lies in wickedness -- multiplied, subtle, and appalling wickedness! May God preserve you, my dear son -- and may you never wander from the way in which you have been trained!

Keep a continual watch over your disposition, temper, and thoughts. Pride in every form -- must be brought low.

Do not wonder, that I cannot rest contented with superficial religion -- but that I look for a deeply experimental life of God in your soul. I place time and eternity before me in holy imagination. I strive, as it were, to penetrate the veil which separates them -- and to look earnestly at those things which belong to your everlasting peace!

Lay all these things to heart; make them the subject of unceasing petition at that throne -- whence no believing supplicants are ever sent empty away.

I commend you to Him, who has all events in His hands, whose consolations are neither few nor small, who gave his Son to die for your sins, and whose compassions never fail. The precious Redeemer shall protect, guard and comfort you. But seek Him aright -- do not trifle with the great concerns of your soul.

Adieu for the present, my child, my friend -- and, in Christ, my brother.

The objective of GraceGems.org "is to set before the Christian pilgrim some reflections which may prove challenging, consolatory and encouraging -- as he journeys up from this bleak, arid, wilderness world, leaning on his Beloved." If you haven't subscribed to their daily e-mails, I encourage you to do so.

Mark 8:36

(I also thought y'all might appreciate this blast from the past!)

Christian Sportsmanship

Anyone who wants to read the longer version of my opinion on Covenant School's 100-0 victory over Dallas Academy can pop on over to our family blog. Here's an excerpt:

I would have expected nothing less from the team that won. In fact, if I had been their coach, I probably would have wondered why they couldn't win by 200 points. ...

... The reason I'm having such a hard time sympathizing with Dallas Academy is that coach [Jeremy] Civello contradicted himself when he complained that the Covenant girls could have had just as much fun winning by 30. If the whole point is to have the girls playing "with all their hearts," who cares what the final score was, be it 100-0 or 200-0?

The fact is that he was embarrassed. And who can blame him? This kind of a loss -- not to mention the fact that Dallas Academy hasn't won a game in four years -- is hard to live down.

Still, we are left with the impression that Covenant coach Micah Grimes and his players are mean-spirited brutes because the team was still playing hard until the final buzzer. But isn't that exactly what we would expect of any team? Look at it from their perspective. Coach Grimes spends the entire season trying to get his players to give 100%. Do we expect him to go against everything he's been teaching them and suddenly try to get them not to play their best simply because the opposing team stinks?

Covenant, however, decided to apologize and forfeit their win, calling it "shameful and an embarrassment." They said it didn't "reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition." Coach Grimes didn't agree with the school's formal apology, said as much, and was promptly fired.

Needless to say, the majority of opinions I have read online overwhelmingly condemn Covenant's coach and team. Why is that? What lesson in Christian sportsmanship could have been learned by encouraging those talented girls to not play their best?

I haven't read a single report that the Covenant players were sore winners, that they were taunting or insulting the losing team. They simply went out on the court and gave it their all, which is exactly what was expected of them.

The chief end of man -- and the chief end of all that we do -- is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Is that somehow not possible in a 100-0 basketball game? Where would you draw the line between Christ-like behavior and poor sportsmanship? 80-0? 50-0? 20-0? Is there not anything parents, spectators, coaches, and players on both teams can learn from such a lopsided victory?

If there was any Christ-like compassion to be exhibited, perhaps it should have come from the Dallas Academy coach who at halftime saw his team down 59-0. Or perhaps it should have come from the ones responsible for scheduling the game in the first place. Maybe it should have come from those who originally thought that it was a good idea to have a competing girls' basketball team in a high school with only 20 students.

Ephesians 5:18

(HT: Marc Heinrich)

1 Timothy 6:6-10

Psalm 58:3

1st Corinthians 2:5

Luke 12:15

And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

James 3:10

For more on this video, visit the Desiring God blog.

Proverbs 21:23

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Proverbs 13:24

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

Parents, let this be a lesson to you: