Book Review of John Bunyan by Kevin Belmonte

I have signed up with Thomas Nelson publishers to receive free books in exchange for posting my review at www.booksneeze.com.  My first review is for a short biography of John Bunyan.

The book gives a brief overview of John Bunyan's life, and shows some interesting snapshots of his struggle as a poor working-class tinker, and eventually as a fearless preacher of the biblical Gospel in the face of a strict political-religious climate in the second half of 17th century England.

The books also gives some background and premise for Bunyan's great work Pilgrim's Progress.  Writing it while in prison for refusing to attend services of the Church of England, and instead preaching to the "heathen" in his surrounding community (an activity forbidden by the religious leaders), it quickly gained great notoriety and spread across his small home town and eventually all over Europe, even into the hands of the great John Owen who would plead for Bunyan's release from prison.  Bunyan spent around 12 years in prison for what would seem today to be hardly a crime.  12 devastating years away from his wife and small children (one of whom was blind, his oldest Mary).

I found this book to be a very good brief overview of a man whom I have never read about.  I would recommend reading it and I hope to read more about John Bunyan in the future.

Highlights from our anniversary trip to Mexico

Go to this link to read: http://danielyates.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/highlights-from-our-anniversary-trip-to-mexico/. 

I got fed up with some annoying formatting problems on this blogger, so I did it on a different site.

A classic Chandler rant...

So true...

(On single people in the church)

So you're single and you can't seem to find a godly woman, you can't seem to find a godly man. You know you're supposed to be steadfast and okay with your singleness, but it just seems to war on you and it's not what you really want, but in church and in group you say that's what you want because someone has lied to you and told you that as soon as you become content, that's when you'll get the other deal. And so, they feel overwhelmed.

- From Ecclesiastes series part 16.

My view on war and peace

The God of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

- Romans 16:20

An Opportunity to Help a Crisis Pregnancy Center in Need

I saw this via JT and it is important enough to pass along:

A lot of people wonder if there is anything practical and helpful they can do to reduce abortion and to help hurting women in need. One of the best ministries with boots on the ground is Heartbeat of Miami (started by John Ensor). But they are seriously hurting these days and they may have to close their doors. Mike Seaver has a helpful post explaining their need and how you could help:

Heartbeat of Miami is a crisis pregnancy center that was strategically planted in Miami, Florida, the city in the USA with the highest abortion rate. John Ensor and others had a vision for planting these centers in strategic cities and this was their first one. Here are some staggering statistics.

• They are the only crisis pregnancy center in that part of the city and there are 37 abortion clinics.


• In 3 years that Heartbeat of Miami has been open, over 4000 ladies have been served and over 1000 babies have been saved.


• Their financial support is down 48% this year.

Please consider making a donation...even a $5 donation to help unborn babies have the gift of life. You can go here to donate. There is also a matching program through the end of August 2009, so if you give $5...it is acutally like giving $10. If you give $50...it is like giving $100. Please pray and if you feel the Lord leading you, please give.

See their vision video below:

Mainstream media on health care

The media seems, in my very limited perspective, to at least in part be shifting its concerns some regarding some of the recent legislation being pushed.

From Time magazine:

For Stupak, the pro-life Democrat, the battle over abortion in health-care reform is certain to continue when Congress returns from recess. "We are going to do everything we can to stop the rule, or the bill, from coming to the floor," Stupak says, adding that as many as 39 Democratic members of Congress may join him in the effort. It remains unclear how the Senate will deal with the abortion issue. There is also no consensus within the Democratic Party about whether a public option should be included in final health-care-reform legislation.

In the meantime, Stupak says that Obama's statements during recent public events signal one of two things: either he does not fully understand the current House bill, which Stupak maintains has the effect of publicly funding abortion, or "if he is aware of it, and he is making these statements, then he is misleading people."

Also, this clip from ABC's 20/20 is interesting.

Matt Chandler in Philly on Philippians

Matt Chandler gives a powerful, almost soulful, Gospel delivery in a "hip-hop" church in downtown Philadelphia.  I highly recommend hearing both of these:

Legalism vs the Law

Philippians 

One of my favorite Chandler stories of all time is about something at a youth group called J-A-M (Jesus and Me), where apparently the teacher was saying if you listened to Journey you would do crystal meth and kill your parents.

Can't resist it when he makes fun of youth groups.

Lesson of the day

From here:

It is better to work on important things slowly and inefficiently than to work on the wrong things with great speed.

A delightful irony

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, presents a shocking new perspective (at least to me) on the abortion issue.  He says abortionists (an historically feminist movement), in the name of women's liberation, are actually unintentionally contributing to the cause of male dominance.  I bet they wouldn't see this one coming!:

The obvious question is this -- how is it that feminists, the abortion industry, and the advocates of abortion rights get away with their claim that abortion liberates women? In truth, the availability of abortion has served to liberate irresponsible men from duty, morality, and responsibility. Of course, the even greater tragedy is the death of unborn children by the millions.  Only the Culture of Death would present the slaughter of the innocents as liberation.

Awesome whiz kid on guitar, playing Extreme's More Than Words, and many others

More videos

Happy Birthday Em!

Jephthah's Tragic Vow pt.. 2

After looking into it some more, there are some debates on this passage as to what it actually means.  Some commentators say this is not at all talking about human sacrifice, but merely the devoting of the daughter to religious service to God, presumably in the temple or likewise (this is what John Wesley says, and he notes Henrys' commentary below in doing so).  The word used for burnt offering, according to these commentators, can be used for this type of meaning also.  Also, she did not "bewail" death, but only her virginity, which may indicate that she was not being put to death, but merely about to vow an oath of chastity for the rest of her life in service to God and in honor of her father.

Matthew Henry's commentary highlights the differences of opinion among the commentators he knew, but in the end simply states that it is unclear and we cannot know for certain.

Among those who say it IS talking of a real sacrifice (the daughter is killed), some commend him for his faith (as Hebrews 11 would, though perhaps not for the killing, it is simply mentioned in passing) though it was manifested in a "deformed and imperfect" way (as Calvin calls it), and some condemn him for doing so (which is not consistent with Hebrews, though it is conceivably possible Hebrews references a different event in Jephthah's life, perhaps even one that is not mentioned in the Canon, but in other traditions, though unlikely).

Additionally, John Gill's commentary gives quite a good answer as I deem it.  I especially like the interpretation of the end where the girls of Israel are visiting the daughter yearly to comfort her in her solitude rather than lamenting her death, though I think my own desires for the meaning of the text may be an influence here.  I wish it not to be the case that he killed his daughter, but it may well be so.  

Regardless, the commentaries are enlightening, and explain the possibilities well.  I am a little bit comforted.

Who is Barry Soetoro (a.k.a. Barack Obama)?

A very interesting and poignant article regarding all the media debacles with the President that raises questions of his overall honesty of himself and his background (birth certificates, speeches, etc.) as well as the media's glaring lax in reporting these and investigating them, especially considering the amount of shadowy things about him.  I didn't know he has fabricated so much, including a story in his autobiography about his first job:

What’s unnerving about this is that it is so gratuitous. It would have made no difference to anyone curious about Obama’s life that he, like most of us, took a ho-hum entry-level job to establish himself. But Obama lies about the small things, the inconsequential things, just as he does about the important ones — depending on what he is trying to accomplish at any given time.

 Another quote:

The issue is: What is the true personal history of the man who has been sold to us based on nothing but his personal history? On that issue, Obama has demonstrated himself to be an unreliable source and, sadly, we can’t trust the media to get to the bottom of it. What’s wrong with saying, to a president who promised unprecedented “transparency”: Give us all the raw data and we’ll figure it out for ourselves?

Jephthah's Tragic Vow

This is maybe one of the craziest stories in the Bible (Judges 11:29-40, it should be read in context).  I don't recall ever reading this in my life, but I came to it this morning.  Wow.  There are so many things to say of this, of which are these few observations:

• The mighty character of a man as to uphold a vow he made to the Lord, even at the greatest cost to himself and his family
  
• The risk that we take when we make a vow to God, especially when it's put on chance (or at least what seems to be chance)
• The value with which the daughter and the people of Israel held for virginity (perhaps almost too much)
• The trust the daughter had for her father
  
• The poor choice of a vow Jephthah made, and the sadness of this scene.  The final slaughter of the daughter is mentioned in a very soft way
  

Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever [4] comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it [5] up for a burnt offering.” So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Obama vs. Lincoln

 The below is an excerpt from an astute article regarding Obama's history with the abortion issue in comparison to Lincoln's history with the slavery issue:

In speech, action, and deference to the Constitution and laws, the contrast between Lincoln on slavery and Obama on abortion could hardly be plainer. While Lincoln was clear in speech, moderate in action, and put the Constitution above his most cherished policy goals, Obama has been obfuscatory in speech, immoderate in action, and has put his personal policy goals above the Constitution — including letting those goals strongly influence whom to nominate to the Supreme Court.