from Sermons to the Nation (Works Vol 8) by John Owen (327-328)

The actings of God's providence, in carrying on the interest of Christ, are and shall be exceedingly unsuited to the reasonings and expectations of the most of men. The Jews knew that God had a great work to do in giving of a Messiah, the Savior of the world. They are raised up to expectation of it; upon every considerable appearance, they cry, "Is this He?" And what did they expect? Outward glory, beauty, deliverance, carnal power and dominion. God at length comes to do His work, followed by a few fisherman and simple women -- quite another thing than what they looked for. Thus lays He the foundation of the gospel in the person of His Son, by frustrating the expectations of the most of men. Seeing salvation is of the Jews, the rod of Christ's strength being to be sent out of Zion, and that living waters were to flow forth from Jerusalem, whom should the Lord choose to do it? Surely the great, the wise, the learned of that nation; the high priests, learned scribes, devout Pharisees, that might have won their message some repute and credit in the world. But, contrary to all the wisdom of the flesh, He takes a few ignorant, weak, unlearned fishermen, despised upon all accounts, and commits this great work unto them.

You've probably heard the recent uproar over Planned Parenthood and the Susan B. Komen foundation. The upshot is that Komen wanted to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood but the outcry against them doing so caused them to recant and reinstate funding.

I won't go into all the issues related to this, but something that has been highly publicized in the past couple of weeks has caught my eye and demands a bit of clarification. In case you haven't seen it, below is the graph (from a PDF on the Planned Parenthood website) detailing their services in 2010. What you are supposed to notice is how abortion is only 3% of the annual total:

So, those of us who are opposed to abortion are supposed to be okay with what Planned Parenthood does because it is a 'small' percentage of their overall work. Right. Well, if 38% of the time I listen to my wife, 33.5% of the time I help her with the kids, 14.5% of the time I take her on date nights, 10.4% of the time I give her gifts that express how much I love her, and only 3% of the time do I beat her, that doesn't make me a keeper, now does it?

Consider also the raw numbers that Planned Parenthood provides concerning its services. In 2010, the referred 841 women for adoption, and 329,445 for abortion. Let that disparity sink in for a moment: only 1 out of every 400 women is referred for adoptive services.

Why so many abortions? Because, to put it bluntly, that's where the money is. As Ross Douthat points out in his recent NY Times op-ed piece: 

Moreover, in terms of revenues generated, abortion accounted for at least one-third, probably more, of Planned Parenthood's $345.1 million in clinic income reported for the last fiscal year. A no-frills (local anesthesia that does not hinder cramping), no-complications, first-trimester surgical abortion typically costs about $400. Multiply that by 264,943 and you have $106 million, more than 10 percent of Planned Parenthood's entire revenues from every source last fiscal year. Furthermore, many abortions cost more than $400. An extra $150 or so buys better, IV-administered, anesthesia; a "medication abortion" (RU‑486 plus a second drug that induces labor) costs about $450, and a second-trimester abortion can run to well over $1,000, depending on complications.

The problem I have isn't with the good things Planned Parenthood does, like breast cancer screenings. (Although it is sadly tragic to note that their campaign slogan "Stand Up for Women's Health" is a rallying cry that apparently does not extend to women who happen to be in the womb.) The problem is that Planned Parenthood is an abortion business. That is what they do. They do other things, but do you really think people are upset that they are doing pap smears or HIV tests? The issue is unborn life, as Albert Mohler writes about:

It isn't just that Planned Parenthood is involved in abortion. That is a moral evasion. Planned Parenthood is the major engine of abortion in America, an organization that makes millions upon millions of dollars by ripping unborn babies apart. Its operation is vast, and it is inseparable from the involvement of its founder, Margaret Sanger, in the cause of eugenics. Planned Parenthood not only performs and profits by abortion, it openly celebrates abortion as it extends its reach.

So let's not muddy the waters here. I am against breast cancer, against HIV, against HPV, and all of sorts of things that threaten women's health. Babies, however, are not among those. I'm saddened that Komen has capitulated to pressure and reversed a decision that they clearly felt differently about a month ago. But the battle isn't about dollars, as Russell Moore explains:

Let's stop highlighting how God "blesses" the millionaire who tithes. Let's stop trumpeting the celebrity football players and beauty queens as evidence of God's blessing. Let's show that God has blessed us in a Christ who never had a successful career or a balanced bank account, but who was blessed by God with life, and with children that no one can number, from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language. Planned Parenthood has won this one. They spent a lot of money, and they'll make a lot of money. And they'll do so off the shredded corpses of children and the raped consciences of women. If Jesus' kingdom were of this world, we'd be fundraising to keep up with them.

But what we have is greater than that. We have a word that tells a pregnant young woman that we believe her Down Syndrome baby is a gift, not a health care burden. And we can offer the kind of gospel that cleanses the conscience and offers what outlasts money and power: life and that to the uttermost. Let's work to legally protect women and children. And let's grieve that old Mammon has won the day, again. But let's not grieve like the pagans who have no hope. When it comes to the struggle for life, the color of victory isn't pink like a ribbon. It's red like a cross.

 

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Time Travel Tuesday #132
The countdown through the annual Xtreme Summer group pictures wraps up with the summer of 2000. I actually went in 1998 and 1999, but don't have group pictures from those years. Sorry for the poor quality on this one, but it's the best I've got!

FROM L to R: Christopher Shaw, Matt Rosencrans, Chad McCullm, Justen Atwell, Meghan Atwell, Bobby Ducharme, Mark Powell, Matt Ray, Sean Cape, Sarah Wells, Jeremy Chappell, Alisha Tisdale, Shannon Daley, Amanda (Doss) Atwell, Alyssa (Van Hook) Stanfield, Brian Leffler, Amanda (Nanna) Alvey, Carrie (Ducharme) Likes, and Jason Bramer 

	Evangellyfish Douglas Wilson FICTION
	Sin and the Fall Reddit Andrews III THEOLOGY

Fashionable Faith (17) 02.05.12a  |  MP3  |  38:54 The Necessity of Elders: Rebuking False Teaching Titus 1:10-14

Life in His Name

Imagine someone who agrees that Jesus is a real person who lived and walked and breathed here on earth. Imagine that he agrees Jesus was the very Son of God, that He lived a sinless life and then was killed on a cross and raised to life three days later. Imagine that he agrees Jesus is now seated at the Father’s right hand and that He will one day return and fully consummate the eternal kingdom. He believes these things with certainty and freely admits them. Would you say that person is a Christian? I think most of us would, but here's the kicker: the person we just described is Satan.

The devil knows all of these things; many of them he witnessed first-hand as Christ disarmed him through the cross. So what’s the difference between what Satan believes and what I believe? What makes my belief more than mere agreement with truth? True belief calls for complete trust and confidence in Christ and His work. It's not a 'head issue' or even a 'heart issue' but a 'whole life issue.' I choose to believe Christ because I have found that I can no longer believe in myself. Only He can overcome sin.

The Bible has no qualms about demanding this kind of choice from people. John wrote his Gospel for that very purpose: to put us in a position of choice. The question before his readers is the same question before us, the same question that has faced millions of people over thousands of years: who is Christ? "...these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." [John 20:30-31]

from The Life of Joy (52)

Paul is anxious that Christian people should know the great eternal decrees of God and how they are being worked out. He wants us to understand the nature of the death of our Lord upon the cross, the power of His resurrection and the application of all that to our lives by the Holy Spirit. He wants us to see that God, from the very beginning, has had this plan which He is certainly working out. Then, as we grasp this more fully, it will increase our love to God, and as we have this growing assurance of our great salvation, so our love will abound yet more and more.

The Bracken/Warren Partnership 02.02.12w  |  MP3  |  17:31 Partnership in the Gospel Philippians 1:3-11

from But God by Casey Lute (40)

Israel did not record its history like other nations recorded theirs. The Old Testament tells not only of Israel’s victories and righteous acts, but also of its defeats and sins. Nobody is spared, not even the most highly regarded Israelites. Moses cannot enter the Promised Land because of his sinful pride. David receives severe punishment for his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Solomon disobediently collects hundreds of wives, and his sins ultimately divide God’s kingdom. The Hebrew Bible is unlike other ancient documents—it does not shy away from recording the sins of its people because it is not ultimately about the people. The Bible is about God, and He never sins. He never fails. He never does anything wrong or shameful. He is only ever just, holy, loving, and good. He keeps all of His promises to His people, because it is His nature to do so. He shows His great love throughout the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures by never straying from His promises to His people. The people sin against Him, doubt Him, and turn away from Him—but God remains ever faithful.

Penny for Your Thoughts

What comes to mind when you hear “Abraham Lincoln”? Most of us probably know a few facts about Lincoln. If you stayed awake for all of your American History classes, you might know a bit more than some other people. For every hundred people who know he’s on the penny, there are probably a dozen who know the years he served as President, and maybe one or two who can at least get started on the Gettysburg Address. You’d have to break out decimal points when it came to how many could name his wife and children or any of his cabinet members.

But, and here’s the rub, none of us actually know Abraham Lincoln—not even those who can rattle off every bit of information about him. We have never met him, never spoken with him, and never wolfed down a cheeseburger with him. He’s been dead for 147 years.

In the same way, we have to be careful — especially those of us who have been in church for a long time — not to confuse knowing about God with actually knowing God. Our purpose and goal is to know the One who made and remade us. Accumulating facts about God might come in handy on trivia night but our pursuit is God, not His stat line. We have been created intentionally with the capacity to know God. Anything less is pitiable, and ultimately unsatisfying.

	The River of Doubt Candice Millard NON-FICTION
	Education or Imitation? Curtis Allen THEOLOGY