America is my home away from home. I am a sojourner here, just like everyone else, passing through on my way to eternity. “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). Nevertheless, I regard it as a smiling Providence to have been born here, and I give thanks today. I have been to Washington, D.C. since my last 4th of July post. One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to the Lincoln Memorial. My favorite political speech is inscribed on the wall inside the memorial. The speech is Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.
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Reflections from an SBC Newbie
I have already written about some of the things that transpired at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) last week, but I have not shared my overall impressions of the meeting or my opinion about the most significant thing that happened. First of all, full disclosure: I am a convention newbie. The San Antonio meeting of the SBC was my first time ever to attend the annual gathering. Travelling, lodging, and eating can bust the budget really quick without an expense account. So for me, going to the SBC has always been cost prohibitive. But this year I just decided to go anyway and to try to do so on the…
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Rev. James Lipscomb: I Wish You Could Have Known Him
The persons pictured to the right are me and my college Greek professor, Rev. James W. Lipscomb. The picture was taken by Mrs. Lipscomb as he and I were reading the Greek New Testament together on his back porch in Ruston, Louisiana in 1994. The picture brings back fond memories of a man who had many stories to tell. To give you an idea of the cloth from which Rev. Lipscomb was cut, he was a classmate of Francis Schaeffer in both college and seminary. I just received word yesterday that Rev. Lipscomb passed away (obituary). He was 92 years old. It would be impossible for me to overstate how…
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Eliot
Readers of this blog know that I love the humorous videos produced by the Igniter Media Group (e.g., “Get in Here Ministries” and “Teamwork”). But the material they produce is not all humorous. Some of it is very serious indeed. One of their newest productions is a true story about a little boy named Eliot. I took a special interest in this particular video because my wife and I had followed this boy’s story last fall and had been praying for him and his family. Their testimony paints a vivid picture of the preciousness of every life. This story is so terrible and so good, that I was compelled to…
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John Piper Podcast
In my humble opinion, the best preacher alive today is Pastor John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I love John Piper, his vision of God, and his desire to spread a passion for the supremacy of Christ. Dr. Piper’s weekly sermons are now available free of charge via podcast. If you have iTunes, it’s very simple to subscribe. Click on this link, and follow the directions. If you are not into podcasting, you can easily download the weekly sermons from the Desiring God website: click here. I’ve been listening to Piper’s weekly sermons since 1999, and the Lord has used them mightily in my own life. So…
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Reviews of Microsoft Vista and Office 2007
I do not plan to be a guinea pig for Microsoft’s release of its new Vista operating system. Even though I have already read one review in which a Mac user is switching to a PC in order to use Vista (Gasp!), I will not be drinking the Kool-Aid any time soon. As with all Windows operating systems, it will take a couple of years to get all the bugs worked out. I don’t have time for that.
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Dr. Mohler Is Released from the Hospital
We are thanking the Lord for this report from Dr. Mohler’s website: Dr. Mohler was discharged this morning from Louisville’s Baptist Hospital East. After a two week hospitalization that included extensive abdominal surgery and a four day stay in the Intensive Care Unit due to pulmonary emboli in the lungs, he and the family are overjoyed to be back home. Dr. Mohler looks forward to resuming his presidential and ministerial duties, but his activities will be limited for some time as he continues his recuperation at home. The Mohlers are deeply grateful for the many prayers offered and expressions of concern shown over the past couple of weeks.
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Update on Dr. Mohler
Dr. Russell Moore gives a good report on Dr. Mohler’s prognosis:
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Pray for Dr. Mohler
Dr. Albert Mohler is in urgent need of prayer. While recovering from his recent surgery, today he took a decided turn for the worse. Here is the call for prayer issued on his website:
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Auld Lang Syne
Our family has been enjoying James Taylor’s new Christmas album this holiday season, and on it I have found my new favorite version of “Auld Lang Syne” (listen to it in iTunes). If you have ever wondered what the lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne” mean, the Wikipedia article on the song has Robert Burns’ original words along with a modern translation. I commend it to you. In the meantime, I won’t be forgetting our acquaintance. Thank you for reading my blog and Happy New Year!