If you like a good story, YOU WILL LOVE THIS ONE.

This is a story of a young boy in Philadelphia whose mother is from Africa. He was picked on and beaten up. Yet he stood up for others.

Click here to read it.  It is written by Rick Reilly for ESPN.

Kevin DeYoung’s review of Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins came out yesterday. You can read it here.

While many men and women have countless opinions on countless subjects, God has already spoken. God speaks for himself. His Word is true. And I believe that. I form my views, opinions, and beliefs based on what I read from God in the Bible. Here are two quotes I like from DeYoung’s review.

“The good news is that in love God sent his Son to live for our lives and die for our deaths, suffering the God-forsakenness we deserved so that we might call God our God and we who trust in Christ might be his children.”

“Look at God’s people in the garden, then kicked out of the garden; God’s people in the promised land, then booted out of the promised land; God’s people in the New Jerusalem, then the wicked and unbelieving locked outside the New Jerusalem. Trace this story from tabernacle to temple through the incarnation and Pentecost and the coming down of the new heaven and new earth and you will see that the Bible’s story is about how a holy God can possibly dwell among an unholy people. The good news of this story is not that God loves everybody everywhere and you just need to find Christ in the rocks all around you. The good news is that God over and over makes a way for his unholy people to dwell in his holy presence, and that all these ways were pointing to the one Way, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

In Luke chapter 3 when Luke is giving us the genealogy of Jesus, we see something very interesting.

Luke’s genealogy goes backward from Jesus all the way to Adam. At the very end, here is what Luke writes:

“the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

Luke could have just ended with Adam, but for some added emphasis Luke states that Adam came from God. God made Adam. He was the first man ever.

Check this very helpful article out on doing family worship in your home.

Yesterday’s sermon was on our perspective of Jesus. It needs to be a proper and healthy perspective. You can hear the sermon here.

Well let me show you the Awesome perspective that John the baptist had. This is great.

In Luke 7:28 Jesus says this about John,

“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.”

To repeat, Jesus says that John is the greatest person ever born.

Well check this out now. Watch what John says in Luke 3:16 about himself in comparison to Jesus,

“he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

WHAT A PERSPECTIVE! The Bible is so helpful for us people. The greatest man to ever be born is nowhere near as great as Jesus. He himself says he is not even worthy enough to undo his shoes. In comparison to Jesus, John is so lowly and unworthy.

I have several great American people in mind: Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Billy Graham, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, and so on. They are great in different ways. I wonder what their perspective is on Jesus.

How about you? What is your level of greatness? And moreover, what is your perspective on Jesus’ level of greatness?

This an outstanding quote from D.L. Moody about repentance. I used it in last week’s Sunday Morning sermon. You can listen to that sermon here. The sermon was on repentance and preached from Luke 3.

Here is the quote (taken from Daily Grace for Teens):

“Let me say what it is not. Repentance is not fear. Many think they have to be alarmed and terrified, and in order to repent, they are waiting for some kind of fear to come down upon them.

Repentance is not feeling. I find a great many people are waiting to to turn to God, but think they cannot do it until this feeling comes.

Repentance is not fasting and afflicting the body. A person may fast for weeks and months and years, yet not repent of one sin.

Neither is it remorse. Judas had terrible remorse, but that was not repentance.

Repentance is not conviction of sin. I have seen people under such deep conviction of sin that they could not sleep at night or enjoy a single meal, and yet, they did not truly repent.

Neither is praying repentance. Many people say, “I will pray and read the Bible,” and yet never repent.

It is not quitting one single sin. Forsaking one vice is like breaking off one limb of a tree when the whole tree has to come down.

What is repentance? It is “Right About Face!” It implies that a person walking in one direction has not only faced about, but is actually walking in an exactly contrary direction.”

I read this short little post yesterday and loved it. It is so encouraging and refreshing and rare.

Check it out here. It is called “I’m Addicted.”

This video is awesome and  moving.  Please take 10 minutes to watch it. It is a people group in Kenya who love Jesus and His Word. They are receiving the New Testament for the very first time. Incredible!

If you know anything about college basketball this season, then you know about BYU and their sudden success. The Mormon Cougars, led by star player Jimmer Fredette, are ranked #3 in the nation this week and are in the discussions for a #1 seed for the NCAA tournament.

Well also this week, the school announced that starting forward Brandon Davies has been dismissed from the team for breaking the school’s honor code. The school was quick to announce that he has not been kicked out of school; he has not done any criminal offense; and he has not messed up academically. He simply broke the school’s honor code. Every student, athlete or not, at BYU commits to keeping the school’s honor code.

Davies admittedly broke the honor code. And because of that he has been dismissed from the team. (This really hurts the team. Their first game without Davies was last night, and they lost badly.)

ESPN reports today here that Davies had sexual relations with his girlfriend. This is not allowed for any student at Brigham Young University.

My thoughts race quickly to whether this is good or bad. Should they forgive him and restore him? Or should he be punished this?

In a day when integrity is lacking nearly everywhere, especially in collegiate sports, it is nice to see a school stick to their commitments and model integrity.

As BYU’s head coach said:

“A lot of people try to judge if this is right or wrong, but it’s a commitment they make. It’s not about right or wrong. It’s about commitment.”

I agree. Great statement. Having sex with your girlfriend is wrong, but its not the end of the world. But also getting kicked off the team for this season is not the end of the world. He is still in school.

Discipline is a good thing. Its how people grow. Commitment is a good thing too. If you make a commitment, be committed. And if you are not going to be committed, then just know that discipline may come.

It is nice to see a good example of integrity from the school.

R.C. Sproul has written a  very insightful article here.

It is titled ‘5 Things I’m Surprised I Cant Find in the Bible.’

If you are a Christian and member of a church anywhere, please take time to read this. It will help you relax so much about the way you think and it will also encourage you to keep loving the God who speaks to you through His Word.

He concludes “The Bible, like its author, is perfect. Praise that author that He is perfecting me through it.”