Proverbs for social media
Solomon was born 3,000 years before tweets and status updates became a thing, yet his wisdom applies all the same.
- “Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.” – Proverbs 10:19
- “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” – Proverbs 18:2
- “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.” – Proverbs 20:3
- “He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears.” – Proverbs 26:17
If animals are people, why not flowers too?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) want us to stop using “anti-animal language” and they have some alternatives to propose. Instead of “bringing home the bacon” they want us to say “bringing home the bagels.” And instead of “take the bull by the horns” they offer “take the flower by the thorns.”
What’s funny about this – besides everything – is how easy it is to imagine this actually being taken seriously. Of course, such a change would be followed by – in ten, or maybe just five years’ time – another group complaining about how PETA’s substitutions are insensitive to the gluten-intolerant, and, even worse, to flowers.
On Friends, and our other TV viewing habits
In his recent article, “The dark enduring legacy of Friends,” Jonathon Van Maren reflected on Christians’ viewing habits.
“…when religious people consumed the same entertainment as everybody else, it created a sort of moral schizophrenia—laughing along about everything from porn binges to promiscuity one day while attending church to hear a pastor explain how such things were so wicked God Himself had to be crucified to save people from these sins the next. Most mainstream TV shows offered people the opportunity to entertain themselves by laughing at sin, although few realized it or saw it that way.”
Two on a woman’s calling
“Sometimes marriage and motherhood are celebrated at the expense of all other things God calls women to do. Some say a woman’s highest calling is to be a wife and a mother. But a woman’s highest calling is really to follow Jesus. Some are called to do that as wives. Some are called to follow Him as a wife and mother, and some are called to follow Him as single people. The Bible gives us an elevated view of both modes. We Christians have tended to downplay or denigrate singleness in order to elevate marriage. But the negative contrast to marriage isn’t singleness. It’s having multiple partners in non-monogamous sexual relationships. An important piece of the puzzle, therefore, is actually those women who are called to follow Jesus as singles.”
– Rebecca McLaughlin
“One of the biggest lies that women believe is that working for an employer is liberating, while working for one’s own family is a burden.”
– Angela Mitchell @raisingapologists (Instagram)
Evil in unvarnished english
“Abortion is the world’s resounding answer to the question: ‘If you had to murder in order to have an unfettered sex life, would you do it?'” – unknown
The moment when the Holy Spirit opened a Roman Catholic priest’s eyes
In a recent blog post, Dr. Wes Bredenhof told a story about Franco Maggiotto (1937-2006), “one of the most memorable men I’ve ever met.”
At one point in his life, he’d been a Roman Catholic priest in Italy. The papal hierarchy saw potential in Franco and he became involved with the Vatican. One day, Father Franco was saying mass at a basilica. In the process, he happened to read to the congregation from Hebrews 10:11-12:
“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…”
When Franco read this, the Holy Spirit suddenly opened his eyes to the reality of the gospel. He told the congregation, “I’m fired! You should go home now. It’s all done. I’m fired. Jesus has done it all!”
Two ways God has spoken to us outside the Bible
“…God has spoken to us through the majesty and beauty of the world that He has made. But there is another way, still apart from the Bible, in which God has spoken to His creatures. He has not only in the wonders of the world outside of us but also through His voice within. He has planted His laws in our hearts. He speaks to all men through the voice of conscience. He speaks through the majestic words which all but the most degraded men utter, the words: “I ought.” He speaks through the majesty of the moral law. A law implies a lawgiver. Conscience testifies of God.”
– J Gresham Machen, Is the Bible Inspired?
Some are shorter, older, smarter – in what way are we equal?
No two of us are alike in any measurable way: neither by height, breadth, income, intellect, speed, or strength. So what’s all this about us being equal? Well, as John Stonestreet notes, there is only one basis for equality: that we are all made in the very Image of God (Gen. 9:6, etc.).
“The image of God is essential to understanding the notions of human equality, human dignity, and human value. We all know that the Declaration of Independence says that ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ Yet, if you look around a room full of people, the most evident thing is not that we’re equal. Instead, we’re actually quite different. If there’s anything about our humanity that grounds equality and dignity and value, it can’t be any quality that we share on the outside, because there is no quality that we all share on the outside. Some of us are older. Some of us are taller. Some of us have higher IQ’s. And so on. Even atheist thinkers have recognized that the only source in history that has grounded equality, dignity, and value and given us an understanding of a shared humanity is the image of God.”
