Around the Horn – Jan. 23, 2012

I want to try an experiment. I want to occasionally post some links to some stories I found interesting and/or helpful and thought you might as well. Some of the other blogs I follow do this sometimes and I thought I might follow suit for a season and see if my subscribers like it. So let me know what you think!

The phrase “Around the Horn” is a baseball term we used when I was growing up to describe the infielders throwing the baseball to each other after the pitcher struck out a batter. I think it portrays the idea I have here of “throwing the ball” to someone else. I’m also sure someone else has probably come up with this idea already to list links to stories and other websites from their blog. But I like it. So until I get a cease and desist letter, here’s my first edition of “Around the Horn.”

“10 Positive Reasons to Train Your Children in Cell Phone Use” by David Murray – I see it all the time… young children with their eyes glued to a cell phone. As one Christian leader recently said, “Our children are going to grow up seeing the back of an iPhone.”

“Do Christians have a moral obligation to boycott companies that support unbiblical causes?” by R. C. Sproul, Jr. – Let’s face it, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to shop anywhere these days if we’re going to boycott everyone that doesn’t meet our approval! The younger Sproul appeals to Romans 14, which I agree is an appropriate application of that text.

“The Main Reason People Leave a Church” by Thom Rainer – Rainer, the President/CEO of LifeWay, points out that the #1 stated reason is not necessarily a good reason. This is a clear example of where the cultural mindset has hit the church in a significant way. It’s hard for us to believe that Jesus said we really only have one need (Luke 10:42, KJV).

www.abort73.com – A website devoted to exposing the truth about abortion. For example, they expose the lie that unborn babies are just “blobs of tissue.”      **Warning: some images in their videos are graphic. The truth can be painful to see.

Modesty – The Forgotten Virtue

As we think about the value of mothers this weekend, we cannot help but think about how far our culture is straying from the biblical description of what the standard should be for women. This includes Christian women who have never been taught modesty.

Several years ago we came across these outstanding resources from the Mahaney family. First a message from C. J. Mahaney:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12908209345

(Note: when Mahaney talks about PDI, he is talking about the former name of the church planting movement he started, which has since been renamed Sovereign Grace Ministries)

The ladies of his family wrote this wonderful little booklet to help Christian women discern how to dress appropriately:

http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/files/modesty_heart_check3.pdf

Weekend Reading and Listening…

Some links you might enjoy:

– We might know right from wrong much younger than many would have imagined as one study has indicated.

– Justin Taylor interviews David Platt. Dr. Platt is the pastor of Brook Hills Church in Birmingham and is one of the finest young preachers I have heard. His passion for global missions is infectious. If you can carve out an hour, the message included on that page is very worthwhile.

– David Murray reminds us of the importance of keeping a guard over our mouths with his post about the potential political suicide of Britain’s Gordon Brown.

– What is Biblical Counseling? David Powlison (of CCEF) seeks to answer that question as a guest of Bethlehem Baptist Church.

– Was George Washington a true Christian? I’ve read and been told for years that he was not because he was supposedly a Deist. Peter Lillback challenges that assertion with some significant evidence that Washington was a true follower of Christ. Hear him talk about it or check out his book, George Washington’s Sacred Fire.

– Tim Keller preaching on the Prodigal God, which is also a book.