I had someone from our Christ’s Church family approach me last week, asking if she could make red envelopes available for anyone wishing to participate in the Red Envelope Project.  

I appreciated Deb bringing this to my attention, and I also appreciate her passion for the sanctity of all life, including those not yet born.  I've long maintained that abortion is primarily a biblical issue.  I taught on it last year. The audio is available online here.

Flooding Washington with red envelopes may not change anybody's mind about abortion.  But if this symbolic gesture raises the level of awareness regarding the value of life, as well as the moral implications of abortion, then perhaps some good can come of it.  It is also no small matter to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves (Prov. 31:8-9).

But I also feel very strongly that we've got to move beyond the symbolic to the tangible.  I'm excited about the work being done to establish a pregnancy center in our community that will be supported and staffed by Christians who are committed to offering love and compassion to those who need help.  In fact, this coming Tuesday (3/31) there will be an information meeting at the Rives Theater at 6:30 pm, to let the public know about the pregnancy center.  Debbie will be speaking.  So please pray for her!

I know that we have a number from our church family who have expressed an interest in helping with the center.  If you'd like more information on how you can be involved, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Debbie or Tonya.

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to avoid responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God knows all hearts, and he sees you. He keeps watch over your soul, and he knows you knew! And he will judge all people according to what they have done. (Proverbs 24:11-12)

ABC’s Nightline taped a “Face-Off” segment at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Deepak Chopra and Carlton Pearson faced-off against Pastor Mark Driscoll and Annie Lobert, founder of the Christian ministry “Hookers for Jesus” about whether Satan exists. The segment is scheduled to run tonight on Nightline. You can also view it online here.

Related: Mars Hill Pastor Jamie Munson reflected on the event, sharing 8 Things to Know About Nightline’s Satan Debate.

We had a great time in Philadelphia over the weekend, particularly at Tom and Vicki’s wedding. It was a very special day – definitely one of the neatest weddings I’ve had the pleasure participating in. It was a joyous, Christ-centered celebration. I couldn’t be any happier for Tom and Vicki! There were quite a few folks who made the trip up, in fact, (if I haven’t missed anybody) I think we had almost 20 from our Christ’s Church family in attendance.

I don’t know of many churches who would be okay with their ENTIRE pastoral staff being gone on the same Sunday! You guys are awesome! I heard that we didn’t miss a beat on Sunday thanks to all of you who are so faithful to serve each week - thank you! I’m especially grateful to Calvin for preaching and Joyce for leading in worship. It’s a tremendous joy to serve a church that truly embraces the priesthood of all believers.

We drove back on Sunday and hit the ground running on Monday. I’m excited about being back in our study of Ephesians on Sunday. We’re going to be looking at Paul’s prayer in 3:14-21. It’s one of my favorite passages in the book!

For the past couple of years I’ve used the M’Cheyne Bible Calendar for my daily Bible reading plan. The RSS feed can be configured with a number of helpful options, including D. A. Carson’s version, which takes you through the New Testament and Psalms every year, and the Old Testament every two years.

Today I ran across another helpful site that I thought I would pass along. Feed Me the Bible features various feeds that offer daily Scripture reading plans by the year or by topic. The site also enables you to search the Scriptures by topic. You also have the option to have the feeds delivered via RSS or Email. If your cell has data capability, you can have a daily passage sent directly to your phone. Pretty cool! Check it out.

This is the best article on fasting (and feasting) that I have ever read. Think. Apply. Enjoy.

You may have already seen this amazing video that has been making the rounds around the web. It documents how quickly our world is changing. Wow! It causes me to immediately wonder about the implications for evangelism. How do we take the unchanging gospel to our rapidly changing world?

Amazing Grace performed by IL Divo in the Coliseum in Rome. Turn up your speakers and enjoy!

I’ve had a few people ask me what I thought about David Wilkerson’s prophecy of an earth-shattering calamity for New York and New Jersey. I thought this post by John Piper was spot on. He examines Wilkerson’s prediction in light of I Thessalonians 5:20-21, which says, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”

Testing David Wilkerson’s Prophecy

Look who visited our youth center yesterday.

No, we didn’t find this Red-tailed Hawk inside the building, he was brought in by Robb Herbst, a falconer from Ferrum.

Robb was making a presentation to the teens from the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center. As an outreach to the community, our church partners with them, enabling them to use our youth center and gym each afternoon (Mon-Fri) from 3:00-6:00 pm.

Along with the Red-tailed hawk that you see pictured, he also had an American Kestrel and a Barn Owl.

Laurie said it was a fascinating presentation. The teens loved it!
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All this talk about “stimulus packages”’ and “bailouts.” Since this borrowed money that has to be paid back (i.e. taxes), what exactly IS one TRILLION dollars? Check out this guy’s visual illustration using Google Sketchup.

I’m still a big kid when it comes to snow. I love wintry weather! Who would have thought that we would finally get some snow in the month of March! I had pretty much decided to just chalk up another winter without any of the white stuff. And I’ve got to admit, even though they were forecasting snow yesterday, I went to bed last night thinking, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Oh ye of little faith :)