C.J. Mahaney...This is what I find so striking: A man whose chest has been covered with gold medals, has achieved international fame, showered with awards, and blessed with an incomprehensible amount of money, still feels compelled to press his face to a bong.
an NPR.org story on bauk - gang rape in Cambodia as a new pastime.
This story made me want to drive a spear through the MacBook Air. I think it is absolutely fascinating and terrifying that secular world can offer no explanation for something so horrific because they CANNOT say the word sin. Listen to the account of this poor victim and the silly, trite, unjust and all-around unsatisfying answer of the expert.
"When he dragged me out, there was his two friends with him and three more were waiting in the fields," Mao says.
Two of the men raped her before others were alerted by her screams. Eight days later, she told her story from a safe house.
What happened to Mao has a name in Cambodia: bauk. Its literal translation means "plus," but it also means gang rape, a chilling social phenomenon among young men in the city.....Wilkinson [an expert on this cultural phenomenon] says there are many possible reasons why bauk has proliferated. Many believe it's a male-bonding experience: It costs about $15 to hire a prostitute for the night and paying for just one prostitute saves money. There are also few recreational opportunities for young people.
Really, that is the best we can do? They have so "few recreational activities" and so...? Just say it... "it is wrong, they have sinned!" These boys, Cambodia, the press and I need new life; we need Jesus!
Is Facebook the Bait of Satan?
Carl Trueman - No Text Please, I'm British
"Thus, we must teach people by precept and example that real life is lived primarily in real time in real places by real bodies. Pale and pimply bloggers who spend most of their spare time onanistically opining about themselves and their issues and in befriending pals made up of pixels are not living life to the full; nor are those whose lives revolve around videogames; rather they are human amoebas, subsisting in a bizarre non-world which involves no risk to themselves, no giving of themselves to others, no true vulnerability, no commitment, no self-sacrifice, no real meaning or value. To borrow a phrase from Thoreau, the tragedy of such is that, when they come to die, they may well discover that they have never actually lived."
A great list of things to consider in the world of social networking.
Desiring God Pastor's Conference: "Commending Christ"
Free video of conferences messages by Mark Dever, Matt Chandler, Michael Oh and John Piper.
The Stimulus Package - the Great Delusion
I don't know, it just seemed like I should have something about the rise of the State here.
"The delusion that a crisis of excess debt can be solved by creating more debt is at the heart of the Great Repression. Yet that is precisely what most governments currently propose to do."
Giveaways Galore!
Name your price (actually your donation) and receive a copy of The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards.
Tim Challies is starting a nice little feature on his blog (which I highly recommend) entitled "Free Stuff Fridays" - I think it's fairly self-explanatory.
Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. They are also giving away five subscriptions and a copy of their Bible Study Library software!
The Soul of the Author
It seems insufficient (to me at least) for anyone to read the thoughts of someone whose interior world remains, well, interior. Transparency strengthens any Gospel communication (1 Timothy 1:15) because it allows preaching the gospel and living the gospel to occur. So each week I'll give you a quick snapshot. Its hard to avoid the sense of narcissism here, but my prayer is that Christ will become greater and I will become less as the subtext of Christ's sanctifying work in me is revealed (1 Timothy 4:13-14,15-16).
For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. (1 Thessalonians 2:3-8 ESV)
In response to Carl Trueman:
ReplyDeleteI am always quick to admit that video games and other various internet communities can distract us from living, but is it really anything new? Or is it just another means humans have found to waste our lives and through lazy pursuits ignore God? It seems to me that people wasted their lives long before the internet was ever around. We all know what the heart of the issue is, and it isn't technology.
Thanks for your thoughts Mitch!