Wilberforce to be Reckoned With?

Amazing Grace, a movie about the life of William Wilberforce, opens this weekend. Wilberforce is one of the greatest proponents for social justice from his day, and his life is certianly worth learning about. This year marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, largely due to his efforts. Not sure if I'll get to see it this weekend or not, but if anyone does, let me know if it was any good.

For some info on Wilberforce and his role in ending the slave trade, here are a couple resources:

Wilberforce.org
Official Movie Site
The Life of William Wilberforce (free online book by John Piper)

Religion of Fear

Does God's judgement make Christianity a religion of fear? The Internet Monk has a good post on the subject. Of notable quotability:

I am particularly interested in how evangelicals tend to see events in their lives and in history as expressions of God’s direct judgment. The belief that God is actively judging people through the events that happen in life is a significant source of fear for many Christians.

Much of this phenomenon transcends evangelicalism or any particular expression of Christianity. It is a human behavior that even unbelievers may engage in. When bad or undesirable events occur, there is a deep human impulse to see the event as a punishment from God (or fate, etc.) Christians, because of examples of God’s judgment in scripture and because of how many Christian teachers and leaders interpret events in the light of God’s judgment, often experience fear that God is punishing them directly and will do so in the future.
...

Does the judgment of God ever occur in history? Christians certainly believe that God is working his purposes out, and we believe that temporal judgment is one of those purposes. At the same time, we do not believe that a human presumption of judgment is dependable. It is not pastorally dependable and it tends towards cruelty and arrogance.

We believe that God is for us. In our suffering, he is not experimenting or entertaining himself, but we can be sure he is, even in the midst of the worst events, working towards an ultimate good. His discipline is shaping us into the image of Christ, not judging us for our sins. Christ has been judged for us. God’s wrath as judge has been exhausted on his Son. He is the propitiation for our sins, and no sacrifice - or judgment - is left.

Read the whole post here.

I Am a Huge Nerd

Is it just me, or did Google leave off the "L" in their customized Valentine's Day logo? What better way to say "Happy Valentine's Day" than "Googe"?

...Ugh.

Church for What Purpose?

Here is an excellent - and concise - article from Jean Luc Picard Tim Keller summarizing the purposes of the Church.

Suffer, Little Children

Here's an article from CNN about children being abducted and brainwashed to become soldiers and killers. Honestly this is such a difficult thing for me to read about - especially as a new father. I first became aware of stuff like this through the documentary Invisible Children. I know sin is sin, but when I see things like this, I am amazed that God does not immediately obliterate us off the face of the earth.

Get Hosed

A church congregation in Los Angeles recently held a "mass baptism" by spraying folks in the street with water hoses. Interesting.

From the L.A. Times - Fire hoses were used in the street, said Pastor Wilbert Swaringer, because Los Angeles does not have access to the river Jordan, where the faithful believe Jesus was baptized. When asked about the Los Angeles River, Swaringer looked alarmed and said he had not considered that. Swaringer said church leaders found resonance in the symbolism of the hoses. During the civil rights era, hoses were used "to fight people." But now, he said, "we are using the hose for healing." All members of the church were encouraged to take part, even those who had already been baptized. Community members were also invited, as were members from congregations around the country. [Full Article]

A Calvinist Faces Death

Interestingly enough, TIME magazine interviewed Al Mohler after he recently recovered from pulmonary embolisms, a frequently fatal form of clotting in the lungs. Check out the interview, now posted on TIME magazine's web site: A Calvinist Faces Death

[HT: T-mac]

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Vandorsten.blogspot.com is now www.thedieselblog.com. You probably think this blog is about you. Don't you? Don't you?

Re: Design 2

The newly redesigned and improved vandorstendesign.net is up and running. Huzzah! You know you want a sweet new banner for your blog.