Today I was confronted with the truth that God often uses interesting times to do some pretty interesting things.

As I'm studying through Jeremiah with Precept, I'm also taking intensive classes in Atlanta this week. Today, during our chapel time together, an explosive speaker was used by the Holy Spirit to capture my attention.

More than what he said, it was the introduction given by Dr. Cashin, an expert on missions and Muslim studies, that got my southern mind flowing.

Over a hundred years ago, during the great missionary outreaches throughout Europe and the United States the continent of Africa was referred to as "The Dark Continent." God used the social ills of imperialism to evangelize a continent. While there were many things that were wrong, the gospel went to those who had never heard it before. Dr. Livingston has always been one of my heroes. Yet, fast-forward a hundred years later, the churches of Europe are dead and Europe is now referred to as the "Dark Continent." According to Dr. Cashin and other church history gurus, the Muslim faith has infiltrated Europe, boasting and gloating when they overtake a former Christian church. Many American Christians have written off Europe as hopeless while many Africans have said the same about America.

The speaker left a lucrative career as an engineer with the call to "awake the sleeping giant of the African American church in regards to missions." He, you see, is African American. He told many stories of how the color of his skin opened doors for him throughout the rest of the European world. Because of the recent election of President Obama, Europeans (who were vehement towards the US under Bush) were actually listening to the African Americans. They wanted to talk to him and the other missionaries. They engaged in conversation with him. He returned by sharing the gospel of grace with them, seeing commitments and discipleship opportunities flourish.

My stance on the issues that will face this new administration are clear (you can read about them in the politics section). Regardless, Americans (especially African Americans) have the listening ear of many around the world. Today, I began to pray for the workers because of the ripe harvest with a renewed sense of God's plan for the nations. I began to pray specifically for the Lord to raise up godly African Americans who know and live sound doctrine, follow the call, and effectively communicate the Word to the nations.

Becky has been educating me on some of the gross misconceptions and flagrant deceptions gripping the hearts and minds of most women today concerning the "right to choose" movement. She has been trained as a counselor for AAA Women's Services (you should check out their history) and working with women at the Oak Project,
I am so impressed at her desire to not only speak out about a topic, but allowing the Lord to use her in the lives of others through counseling and discipleship. Having experienced the birth of 'bella, while mourning with countless friends over either the loss of a child or their present inability to get pregnant... the sting of abortion continues to worsen, especially when considering the increase in numbers as time goes by.

As I watched the inauguration pomp, had several conversations with individuals who compare President Obama to Abraham Lincoln (I even saw an WI newspaper with Obama's picture super imposed underneath the Lincoln Memorial), consider the countless number of Americans who are currently bemoaning the economic crisis I am reminded of President Obama's words during the Saddleback Forum.

My mind goes straight to what I am studying in Jeremiah.

Apparently I'm not the only one. I read the following this evening on Challies Dot Com:

This is a guest post from John Ensor.

*****

Today I join hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C., in the annual March for Life to publicly lament the death of 50 million preborn children and to pray for the day when abortion becomes unthinkable.

In doing so, I acknowledge the resistance, even offense, taken by many by asserting that abortion is the moral issue of our day. I am familiar with the claim that asserts equal concern for poverty, global warming, aids prevention, war, and more. All of these appear to me worth researching and debating, as iron sharpens iron, as to the various causes and possible solutions.

But abortion is not on par. I remember how and when I came to this conclusion. It was the week of February 12, 1990, as marked on the Newsweek magazine I was reading. Kim Flodin, in an article on why she did not counter-march for abortion rights, wrote, “I was pregnant, I carried two unborn children and I chose, for completely selfish reasons, to deny them life so that I could better my own” (My Turn).

There it was: a momentary lapse into honest concrete language about abortion from an advocate. No ancient Baal worshiper could have described the reasons for their child sacrifice better. I was stunned that it had to be stated so plainly for me to grasp the preeminent evil of it. It is not one issue among equal concerns. Abortion is our postmodern version of child sacrifice for the Me Generation. As such, it is an incomprehensible and unthinkable evil.

Unthinkable is the best word to describe it because that is the way God describes it. “The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah saying, … “They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination” (Jeremiah 32:35; cf. 7:31, 19:5).

Among the many ways we offend God, the greatest offense are the shedding of innocent blood and idolatry. These two come together in child sacrifice. At the outset, God taught Israel to be shocked and repulsed by its practice among other cultures. “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:31). The word even here rings remarkably close in meaning to unthinkable or something that “did not enter into my mind.”

Some years ago, a woman named Suzanne came to me while I was setting up a pregnancy-help clinic in Boston. She said, “If I have the abortion, I will have more money to spend on my other two children.” I asked, “What do you think your children would say if they knew you were doing this so that they could have cable TV and other stuff?” She said, “Well, I’ll ask them.” Then and there I knew the baby would live. Abortion is unthinkable to children—incomprehensible, horrific, something that would never enter their minds to do. Sure enough, the children were aghast at the thought. “We want the baby,” they reassured her. Some months later, after the baby arrived, I heard her share her story. She said she was embarrassed to think back on her earlier state of mind. She had joined the circle of those who think abortion unthinkable.

Sanctity of Human Life Week is like Good Friday—a sobering time to stare unflinchingly past the ho-hum of abortion as a common practice; to grieve, lament, and morn; then to take up our cross and humbly obey God’s call to “prosper” the cause of the fatherless and “defend the rights of the needy” (Jeremiah 5:28). In this context, that means becoming cross-bearers for child-bearers.

*****

John Ensor is the Vice President of Heartbeat International and author of Answering the Call: Saving Innocent Lives, One Woman At a Time .

Negative temperatures weren't as bad as I thought, though I had forgotten about the effect of breathing in all those icy knives!

Here are some highlights:

-the topic was tough, but the Lord allowed many to be confronted with what a true diciple is. I was able to have several conversations where the Lord had been orchestrating circumstances to allow the seeds of truth to take root. I was dog tired, but God tangibly reminded me of His grace.

-ski day was great! Becky and I are ready for an A-Basin trip! I tried my hand at the terrain park, but judging from my soreness, I probably shouldn't have, though much air was had!

-ice fishing... People really do it, not just Grumpy Old Men.

-black eye and blood from a full contact game of laundry ball. I'll explain later.

-seeing people get it!

I'm on the plane as I write this. I'll probably get stuck in Cinci overnight, which will kill my trek to ATL tonight so that I can be in class at 7.

The adventure continues.

While Jeremy is in Wisconsin freezing his tail off (-7 when he got off the plane today), little Miss Bella and I had a happy snow day here in Chattanooga! Here are some of the pictures:

Quick observation, your thoughts wanted:

Why don't older men (pastors included) model Titus 2 older man to younger men relationships?

As a younger man... I want to know.

Do you remember The Christmas Story?

My Dad always called me either "Buddy" or "Ralphie," which I suppose was in honor to this classic movie. My thoughts were turned to Ralphie's brother, Randy, this morning when I heard from Walt, the Youth Pastor of East White Oak Bible Church Senior High, that another snow storm was blowing through. I'm preparing to speak at their ski retreat this weekend in Winsconsin.

You see, yesterday was a cold day in Chattanooga... it dipped down into the 20's with some pretty intense winds. If you travel up to Covenant or the Overlook, the cross winds on Lookout Mountain can be a little brutal, but it isn't as bad as other places in the US right now. Walt informed me, via facebook, this morning that it was going to dip down to -20... let that sink in for a second. This weekend, at the retreat, it is going to be about 10 degrees. Therefore, I am planning on dressing up like Randy, at all times. Whether I'm skiing or hanging out in the lodge, or taking a shower I will look like this classic picture, unable to put my arms down.

Here are some things you can pray about:

1. At first I felt like we were going to go through I John, but the Lord has directed my attention to the topic of discipleship. We're going to walk through some of the principles addressed in Being A Disciple and Counting the Cost and Dietrich Bonhoffer's Cost of Discipleship. Pray that hearts will be fertile to hear what the word of God says on this weighty, unpopular topic. Weighty because of the implications, unpopular because of the clear line in the sand that is drawn!

2. Pray for Walt! He did a similar retreat last weekend with the Middle School.... nough said.

3. Pray for travel, both mine and the youth groups.

4. Pray for the worship, both the word and in song. I hear a EWOB has a pretty sweet worship band, so I'm excited to worship with them!

5. Pray that the Holy Spirit clearly communicates His Word through every aspect of the weekend. Pray that hearts are changed--disciples made, motivated, and willing to live and die for Christ.

5. Finally, and close to my heart... pray for my family as I'm gone.