Quote - Martin Luther

“You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.” - Martin Luther

HT: Dr. Al Mohler

President G.W. Bush addresses Church Workers

A great short video from President G.W. Bush to encourage service within the church....

Also from President G.W.:

• a video on Small Groups
• a video on Children's Workers

HT: Darryl Wilson

Quote - Bruce Demarest

"It is significant that Jesus spoke more about the sorrows of hell than of the joys of heaven."
Bruce Demarest - The Cross and Salvation p. 30

Quote - Ronald Reagan

"I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."
Ronald Reagan, quoted in New York Times, September 22, 1980

HT: Angie Carl

Humility

Embeded below and linked HERE is a great video interview by James MacDonald of C.J. Mahaney titled "Grace Through the Humble to the Humble" (available through The Gospel Coalition).

Cohabitation Statistics - The Consequences

In "Together Too Soon" in World Magazine, author Mike McManus presents some saddening statistics concerning the growing trend of cohabitation.

• "The average cohabitation last 18 months"
• "Only 30% [of cohabitations] 'transitioned into marriage'"
• "the 70% of couples who separate after living together experience a 'premarital divorce,' which can be as painful as a real divorce"
• "Marriages that are preceded by living together have 50% higher disruption rates than marriages without premarital cohabitation"
• "those who cohabited even only for one month displayed poorer communication and problem solving skills than those who had not lived together first"
• "the majority of non-marital births (52%) occurred within cohabiting unions...13 million single-parent families cost taxpayers $20,000 per family in 2004, a total of $260 billion.  Half of that total comes from unwed births to cohabiting moms"

Hebrews 13:4 "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."

The Gospel Coalition - Interview with Francis Chan

What's Next for Francis Chan? A Conversation with Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris from Ben Peays on Vimeo.
The Gospel Coalition Council members Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris ask Francis Chan why he stepped down as senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, and what he plans to do next.

Quote - Edward Griffin

"For your own sake, and your children's sake, cherish and revere him whom you have chosen to be your pastor. Already he loves you; and he will soon love you as ‘bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh.' It will be equally your duty and your interest to make his labors as pleasant to him as possible. Do not demand too much. Do not require visits too frequent. Should he spend, in this way, half of the time which some demand, he must wholly neglect his studies, if not sink early under the burden. Do not report to him all the unkind things which may be said against him; nor frequently, in his presence, allude to opposition, if opposition should arise. Though he is a minister of Christ, consider that he has the feelings of a man."
Edward Griffin, "A Tearful Farewell from a Faithful Pastor," 1809
HT: Jamie Dunlop at 9 Marks Ministries