Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
—Revelation 19:6-8
In an interesting piece in The Atlantic last week (“Life Without Sex: The Third Phase of the Asexuality Movement”), Rachel Hill highlighted David Jay and his organization, the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network:
But what all asexual people have in common — and what defines asexuality as an orientation — is that, while they may have a desire to connect with other people, asexuals have no desire to connect with them sexually. Asexual people are not the same as celibate people: it’s not that they are purposefully or unintentionally abstaining from sex they would otherwise like to have, but rather that they have no interest in it.
The article is fascinating on several levels: its examination of asexuality as a “sexual orientation,” its exploration of the idea that for some people, sex just isn’t that important (however odd that may seem in our society), and its recognition that a sex-defined culture is perhaps not always beneficial. Read on, intrepid explorer →
If you want to find an instance of true gratitude for the infinite grace of God, do not go to those who think of God’s love as something that cost nothing, but go rather to those who in agony of soul have faced the awful fact of the guilt of sin, and then have come to know with a trembling wonder that the miracle of all miracles has been accomplished, and that the eternal Son has died in their stead.
—J. Gresham Machen, “What the Bible Teaches About Jesus,”
quoted in Rid of My Disgrace, by Lindsey A. Holcomb, Justin S. Holcomb
The mystery and the wonder of this day too often vanishes from our minds. We celebrate today the most wondrous eruption of reality, and for us it has become ordinary, a ritual shorn of its profundity and mystery. That God should break into his creation as one of the mortals, suffer a wretched death as the reward for perfectly acquitting himself before God and man, and then come bursting forth from the grave in which they buried him is not only extraordinary, not only supernatural; it is as earth-shaking as the convulsions that tore the veil at his last breath. Read on, intrepid explorer →
Most of us feel regret, to some extent or another, after we sin. Whether it’s being rude to a friend, fantasizing lustfully, envying a neighbor’s car, or gossiping, we all know the way our conscience pricks us in the aftermath. We often respond – rightly – with regret over our actions.
Then, having regretted our sin, we call it a day. We move on.
And a day, or an hour, or a minute later, we’re doing the same thing again.
Regret, as it turns out, is not the same as repentance. Read on, intrepid explorer →
On the same topic I’ve been hitting a lot recently:
My pastor kindly asked me to read and review Bloodlines for him. His interest wasn’t merely in the book, rather he wanted to know how he could serve his congregants better, which I applaud and am most grateful for. Ever since reading Piper’s book I have been thinking about my experience at my local church and in my Christian walk. I have always been one of the few black females in my church, though I will say there are a growing number of young college females. The purpose of this article is to outline some of the thoughts I have had that I haven’t seen considered. I don’t presume to speak for all reformed black females but I do think these issues need to be addressed or at the least looked at by white pastors. I am black, female and reformed which makes me a bit of a “rare breed”.
Dear Pastor: From a black female congregant→
(via Trevin Wax)
Readers may have noticed a bit of a trend in the last few quotes I’ve posted here: they orient on race. I’ve been increasingly aware of the role of race in our churches – and particularly, of just how poorly American evangelicals have handled race issues – over the past year or so. PJ King tackled the topic for Pillar on the Rock back when we were still writing regularly there, and I think his thoughts on history and trajectory are accurate and important.
In the interval between then and now, I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading various books and blogs that have highlighted in equally various ways just how central the issue of ethnic diversity is to true gospel ministry. Read on, intrepid explorer →