Saturday Selections – Jan 21, 2023

Should we force all men to get vasectomies? (3 min) Since the overturning of the US Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade decision – the ruling that originally legalized abortion in America back in 1973 – last year a lot of arguments have been made for abortion "rights." But they all stand on confusing the real issues. One of the more popular, but also sillier arguments says that if the government can control women's bodies by preventing them from having an abortion, the government should also be able to control men's bodies and force them to have vasectomies. Tim Barnett, of "Red Pen Logic with Mr. B." weighs in. Will my spouse at least be my best friend in heaven? For happily married couples, that there will be no marriage in heaven (Mark 12:25) is a hard truth to understand. John Piper offers some insight in his answer here to a young widow. Russia, Ukraine, and the fog of Culture Wars (10-minute read) One country invaded another: who's the bad guy here? It would seem obvious that Ukraine is the victim, right? But for many Christians, the complicating factor is that the mainstream media, and leaders like Prime Minister Trudeau and President Biden, say that Russia is at fault. These are the same people saying that boys can become girls, and that it isn't a baby if the mother doesn't want it. So it's understandable then, that we are skeptical about whatever positions they take. But as reasonable as it is to question anything these folk say, Jonathon Van Maren warns us against the knee-jerk response of believing the truth must be just the opposite. No liar is consistently so, and getting to the truth isn't as simple as heading in the opposite direction of wherever they're going. A saying, commonly but likely mistakenly, attributed to Martin Luther warns that there are two sides to fall off a horse, so simply reacting against a lie might well have us falling for another error on the opposite side. So how can we really know what's going on in Ukraine? By listening to someone we can trust who has been there... like Jonathon Van Maren. Inoculate – don't insulate – our kids against bad ideas Covid led to a notable exit from public schools, but as a recent US study found, it isn't all good news on that front since: “Homeschooled and parochial schooled undergraduates are as or more likely to identify as LGBT or non-binary as those from public or private school backgrounds.”  The key, then, isn't simply to get them out of godless schools, but for parents to inoculate them against godless ideas, as John Stonestreet details. How long have you been battling sin? Tim Challies on how "In some way each of us carries a heavy load through this life. In some way each of us finds it a long marathon more than a brief sprint. In some way each of us is called to endure with fortitude, even for a very long time." Card-throwing amazement! (4 min) Some good clean trick shot fun for the whole family. ...