share the savior

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” - Charles Spurgeon (Spurgeon At His Best, compiled by Tom Carter, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991 reprinted edition, first published 1988), 67. ) (http://www.founders.org/journal/fj33/editorial.html)
“Prepare to meet thy God…” - Amos 4:1

drowning in papers

There comes a time every semester when I wonder if I will make it through. Will I complete everything, turn in everything on time, and earn a good grade? Or will I easily give up, letting go of the high standards I had at the beginning of the semester? If we go to school for the right reasons with the goal in mind of graduating in a timely manner and earning a good grade while we're at it, we need to consider everything that goes with it. For example, last spring I took 19 credits of prerequisites and was student teaching 20 hours a week as well as working 20-30 hours a week. Needless to say, I was in over my head. As a result, my grades didn't reflect all that I wanted them to. My student teaching wasn't planned as well as it should have been. And, most importantly, my spiritual life all but crumbled. I was racing around doing everything but ultimately doing nothing that would last. I was not cultivating my relationship with God and growing in Him. I would fall into bed at night and realize I'd not read the bible that day.
"oh well, I'll do it tomorrow," I would think. However, I was not devoted to growing in Christ as I should have been. I devoted myself to my classes, homework, and work, forgetting my Savior in the meantime. I cannot thank God enough that I went to Chicago and participated in SALT this summer. It truly woke me up to the most important thing I need to be doing in life: Serving God and growing in Him. Praise God for His mercy! He is so faithful when we make mistakes and screw up. Ever-loving, He does not let us stay where we are in the mud and mire, but seeks us out and brings us back to Himself because of His great love.
"We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." Romans 14:7-8

the evil of two lessers

http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/2008-VoterGuide.pdf

I encourage everyone who is voting tomorrow to look at this simple voter guide that Vision Forum created. What everything eventually boils down to is: are these candidates supporting life or supporting the convenience of getting rid of a "mistake"? are they supporting the fundamentals of preserving God-given life, or not?
So many fellow Christians are on the bandwagon of voting for the lesser of two evils. We need to look at the facts, check out the data, and acknowledge the political history everyone running for office has. Does what they're saying now support what they voted for in the past? Do they show evidence of practicing what they preach? Consider this: We have had a "pro-life" president in the White House for eight years. Abortion is still legal. For six of those eight years, the supreme court was "pro-life" republican-dominated. Life is still being terminated legally. Babies never see light of day because of a few elected official's un-kept promises. Please, don't let the media tell you how to vote. Don't vote out of fear. Vote because you are a Christian, don't vote because you are a Democrat or Republican.
Whoever becomes elected, we as Christians have a huge responsibility. I don't think God punishes countries because of what evil people are doing. They don't know they are doing evil in some cases. Instead, God punishes countries because of the Christians who do nothing. Will you do something?