Prodigal Hearts and Irresistable Grace

Just a brief meditation on my reading this morning...

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. (Judges 10:6 ESV)

Throughout much of its history, particularly throughout Judges, Israel worshiped just about anything they could find other than the one true God. Why? Did the Sidonians exhibit greater passion and dedication to their god? Or was it simply easier or more "profitable" to worship man-made, man-centered gods? (Although Molech was hardly easy to worship, since doing so required child sacrifice.)

What is it about the human heart that would rather worship rocks and trees than God Himself? I guess the question answers itself, in a way. We are born as rebels.

We are born in sin, defiant of our Creator. We would rather honour sticks and stones, pray with meaningless repetition and self-inflicted pains, even sacrifice the lives of our precious children, then bow before the Almighty.

How foolish to believe that we could ever come to God on our own initiative. If He doesn't open our hearts to Him, we will surely remain adamant against Him.

Praise God for His irresistable grace!

Hymns to Evolution

Pastor Paul links to Al Mohler's discussion on the failure of evolutionary psychology to explain music. Dr. Mohler remarks that it is "[n]o wonder there are no great evolutionary hymns."

Now, I'm not here to defend atheistic evolution, but I was tickled by the thought of a hymn for evolutionists. So here are my humble (very! humble) attempts.

First, I was going to use some grand old hymns as models. But I couldn't bring myself to damage such great hymns. (Even though some would have been excellent material. Think of "Foam of our fathers, living foam.")

So, I decided to inflict my sartirlyrical powers on some old standbys, instead.

Goo in a Bottle
To the tune of "Time in a Bottle".

If I could store goo in a bottle,
you know, that wouldn't be bad,
for first bit of goo, I would store, would be
great great great great,
great great great great
grand dad.

Mercifully short. The next one isn't.

Evolutionists' Island
To the tune of "Gilligan's Island." (For our younger readers, who don't know what I'm talking about, you can hear the original here.)

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
a tale of a quirky fate,
that started in a pool of goo,
that became me and you ... that became me and you.

The weather started getting rough,
volcanoes by the score,
some chemicals, a meteor or two
amino acids began to form ... they just began to form...

And then by many fits and starts,
the mighty dinosaurs,
appeared and roamed the earth and then..
... umm, well, then they were no more ... (another meteor).

Quickly we mammals then appeared,
as whiskered, little mice
we grew to become you and me
(how's that for artifice?) ... this theory is so nice ...

And now we're here
and now we know just how we came about
Thanks, Chuck Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould, the Leakey man (and his wife), Stephen Hawking, and the rest,
we're adrift on evolutionists' isle!

The most dangerous key in the world...

The most dangerous key in the world is the "send" key, or the "publish post" key.

Have you ever received an e-mail like this?

Dear Tom;

It was nice of you to take the time out of your busy schedule to visit me. I enjoyed our time together, especially after being so out of touch.

Faithfully yours,
Aunt Betty

How should I understand this e-mail? Is grouchy old Aunt Betty upset that I don't call her more often? Or is my sweet, loving aunt honestly expressing her appreciation for a visit by her favourite nephew?

If I read the e-mail on Monday, I might interpret it as the former. On Tuesday (or after my morning coffee), I might see it as the latter. The point is that it is almost impossible to properly interpret tone in most peoples' e-mails.

Have you ever dashed off a quick e-mail to a friend, only to find out that they totally misunderstood your intention or attitude? Have you ever received a gruff or ominous e-mail, only to find out via a quick phone call that there was nothing gruff or ominous intended?

(I can see all of my readers' heads nodding. All five of you.)

Me too. In fact, years ago I committed to never using e-mail to communicate anything sensitive, critical or emotional. And any time I have broken that commitment, I have always regretted it.

So, why did it not occur to me that the same is true in blogging? In fact, it is true in spades! (And diamonds, hearts and clubs)! If a personal e-mail is open to misunderstanding, how much more so is a public announcement?

Three times over the past six weeks, some loving and wise brothers have pointed out to me articles I have written on this blog which fall into that "sensitive" category. Either I took on issues that were not appropriate for blogging, or my articles employed a tone (even an unintended tone) that was not godly.

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. (Pr 9:8).

I may not be a very wise man, but I am working on it (or, more accurately, God is working on me, amen!) I love these brothers for their grace, courage and mercy. Although I have not changed my stance as expressed in most of those articles, they have shown me more godly and more biblical ways to deal with these issues, and I am humbled and deeply grateful!

Accordingly, I have removed several postings altogether, and edited out some references in others.

My hope and prayer is that this blog may as a result be more profitable to a small part of the Body of Christ (all five of you again!), and that my own heart may be wiser, humbler, and more "useful for the master of the house" (2 Tim 2:21).

Thank you for your patience and grace, dear reader.