The New Paganism and Politics

Dr. Peter Jones over at truthXchange (formerly Christian Witness to a Pagan Planet) has a wonderful new article about the marriage of politics and a new brand of religion; I cannot call it Christianity since Christ is absent from it. You may read it here . I would urge you to subscribe to the newsletter.

For the Lord's Day (early)

John Calvin: On Learning from God Yet nothing shall ever hinder me from openly avowing what I have learned from the Word of God; for nothing but what is useful is taught in the school of this master. It is my only guide, and to acquiesce in its plain doctrines shall be my constant rule of wisdom. (From History of the Christian Church, Vol. VIII: Modern Christianity: The Swiss Reformation)

Persecuted Church

Voice of the Martyrs reports that Christians in the Gojra section of Pakistan have been killed by radical Muslims. The Christians were alleged to have desecrates the Quran during a wedding. Eight Christians were killed, including women and children. More than 100 Christian homes were burned by a mob. The mob, which was estimated to be more than 20,000 people, also burned a church. Emergency personnel did not reach Gojra for more than five hours. Christians were forced to use vegetable carts to move their dead and wounded to the hospital. Responding to an international outcry, Pakistani government officials have now said no Quran was desecrated. The government promised to help rebuild the burned homes of Christian families. The incident took place August 1. Pray for the Persecuted Church.

For the Lord's Day

"I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should have never chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love.” -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Baptist minister

For the Lord's Day

– “When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow on which you lay your head.” -- Charles Spurgeon, 19th century Baptist pastor in London

For the Lord's Day

What can separate my soul from the God who made me whole,

Wrote my name in heaven’s scroll? Nothing, Hallelujah!

Trouble, hardship, danger, sword brought by those who hate my Lord?

Slander here? Or no reward? Nothing, Hallelujah! -- James Montgomery Boice

For the Lord's Day

How to avoid a wasted life: “God created me – and you – to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion – namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. Enjoying and displaying are both crucial. If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. -- Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper