Of legitimizing, legally, same sex marriage has begun, in California today where the Supreme Court

… legalized same-sex marriage, a historic ruling that will allow gay and lesbian couples across the
state to wed as soon as next month and inflame the social, political and moral debate over gay unions.

Can anyone still believe that things will go well for Christianity in the United States if there is not a national revival?

Here’s an interesting page with all sorts of amazing facts about Morgan County. Useful info indeed.

A. Tozer wrote

Let a man but become, as the early Methodists would have said, soundly converted, and certain things will begin to happen in his life.  Though he will undoubtedly suffer from the inward struggle described in the seventh chapter of Romans, yet his direction will be established beyond any doubt and his face will remain turned toward the City of God. That word direction should have more emphasis these days, for the most important thing about a life is its direction.  An emotional conversion which stops short of Christ-orientation is inadequate for life and death, and, unless new help comes from some quarter, it may easily be worse than no religious experience at all. And just this would appear to be the source of our bad orientation. The original experience of conversion was not sufficiently radical to turn the life wholly to God and things eternal. Then when religious leaders found that they had on their hands half-converted persons who wanted to be saved but would not turn fully to God, they tried to meet the situation by providing a twilight-zone religion which did not demand too much and which did offer something. Better have them halfway in, they reasoned, than all the way out. We know now how bad that reasoning was.

He’s so right.  So very right.

You’ll be hearing more about this in due time. For now, set the date on your calendar and plan to be at the County Courthouse on 9/11/08 at noon.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is in and of itself sufficient to draw people to salvation. “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself” declares Jesus in the Gospel of John. I firmly agree, which is why I get so very annoyed when I read about Churches that sell the Gospel, sell it out, manipulate people to gain it a hearing, and act in a way that is deeply offensive and un-theological. The First Baptist Church of Snellville, Georgia is guilty of exactly that. The Associated Press reports

So much for spaghetti suppers: The First Baptist Church of Snellville is fueling its membership drive with a sign in front of its sprawling campus proclaiming “Free Gasoline.” There’s a catch, of course. The offer is a not a giveaway. Instead, each time newcomers or members attend a church event during a Sunday-to-Wednesday revival they get a pink raffle ticket for a chance to win one of two $500 gas cards.

The Church doubtless thinks that it is helping the cause but in fact all they are doing is cheapening the gospel by selling it for a gas card. What’s the Gospel worth? Apparently down in Georgia, just $500.

Perhaps the folk there are unaware of a simple fact: people who come to church for gas don’t come to church for Christ. And when the raffle is over, those who came just to get some gas will be gone like the gas itself. Are there no theologians in the Church there to call this what it is? Is theological astuteness now a thing of the past in Snellville?

The Gospel is not for sale.

Here are some photos of the latest arrival with his mom and dad.  Jamie should be home from the hospital Wednesday.  Do pray for the lot of them.

To John and Jamie C., on the birth of their little boy.  He was born today and weighed in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces and is 19.5 inches long.  Congrats to the happy parents!

Street fighting in Beirut at the end of last week forced the closing on Thursday of the Beirut Baptist School, led to the postponement of a public lecture today at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary and enveloped a BMS World Mission staff member. Associated Press referred on Sunday to the past five days as the “worst sectarian violence since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.” AP reported that 38 people had been killed. Calling the situation “the country’s worst internal fighting since its bitter 15-year civil war,” BBC News reported that 7,000 had fled from the city of Tripoli.

The Arab Baptist Theological Seminary has sent around a flyer today updating the situation. If you are the praying sort, pray for those folk. There isn’t a very pronounced Baptist presence in the entire middle East and the seminary there trains pastors from all across the region- when they can get there!

A famed theologian once wrote, ‘The whole of the Christian life is Worship. The duty of the Christian is to always remember that he is a part of the Body of Christ.’ I could not agree more. If we lived as authentically as possible always in the presence of God, we would live miraculous lives.

We are not diplomats, but prophets, and our message is not a compromise, but an ultimatum. — Tozer