Enough already

I thought briefly about posting regarding Michael Jackson's death. Then I read my thoughts exactly, and decided to just post the link.

Go Read This

Go read this. Then join me in Julie's prayer:

May His Word so deeply probe, penetrate, excavate our hearts that stubborn roots of unbelief may be ripped out and replaced by a humble, ‘more excellent’ treasure.

The Susan Boyle phenomenon

Loved this take on the video clip seen 'round the world.

"The problem is not that we consider youth beautiful. The problem is that we equate beauty with worth."

Milestones

Last Friday marked dh and my 10th anniversary.

We spent it in the hospital with our 17 month old son, who needed surgery to repair a hernia, among a few other things. Thanks be to God for safely bringing him through the procedure.

And thanks be to God for safely bringing my dh and me through ten years of marriage. His faithfulness, goodness, and mercy endures forever.

This broke my heart

GodNeverSinned.com from Aaron Shafovaloff on Vimeo.

Why Easter isn't Christmas

A fascinating article from Slate, on why Easter, despite the marshmallow Peeps and chocolate bunnies, stubbornly resists commercialization.

How pleasant it is in mid-December to open a Christmas card with a pretty picture of Mary and Joseph gazing beatifically at their son, with the shepherds and the angels beaming in delight. The Christmas story, with its friendly resonances of marriage, family, babies, animals, angels, and—thanks to the wise men—gifts, is eminently marketable to popular culture. It's a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life.

On the other hand, a card bearing the image of a near-naked man being stripped, beaten, tortured, and nailed through his hands and feet onto a wooden crucifix is a markedly less pleasant piece of mail.

Thanks to Tim Challies for the link.

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
’Tis a true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress:
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.

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