Our oldest son, David, got married and here is evidence.....

Our daughter Ruthiey took pictures and just posted yesterday.   Enjoy.
http://colormylifewithlove.blogspot.com/2011/11/let-not-man-separate.html

David and Goliath in "Collision"

Wouldn't you know it?  David and Goliath are alive and well -- though their weapons this time are not swords or spears, but words.

Christopher Hitchens is an anti-theist and Douglas Wilson is a Christian pastor. Hitchens is an intimating giant.  He is articulate and has an astonishing vocabulary.  Ironically, he got the vocabulary in Christian England.  Doug Wilson says, "Someone with a large vocabulary is never without a rock to throw, so long as he has a mind to throw it."  Christopher throws rocks at God and his people. And Doug Wilson has stood up and says "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" 

These men spent three days together at various venues debating publicly whether Christianity is good for the world.  You can watch the record of that in the movie "Collision."

Hitchens thinks that we have to "reject outmoded concepts.  We have to get rid of the idea that there is a God in Heaven, telling us the difference between right and wrong."  In the past, before we knew about germs, we needed God to explain sickness.   Now we know better.  And we don't need an idea of a God in order to keep people good because people all have a innate sense of right and wrong.  In fact, says Hitchens, it is more noble to do something because we wanted to than because we were told to.

In reply, Wilson slings a well-aimed stone:  Without God, who defines right and wrong?

Hitchens has many opinions of what is right and wrong.   And he is right about many of them, thanks to his nurture in Christian England.  In fact, Wilson says Hitchens would make a good Puritan.  But if there is no God, if above us there is only sky, and we are a series of chemical reactions, there is finally no basis for right or wrong.  And what today is called wrong, will tomorrow be called right.  Hitchens is borrowing from the Christian worldview when he asserts there is right and wrong.  He is not being consistent with his evolutionary worldview.

Hitchens calls Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "simply evil."  In answer, Wilson says "If there is no God, then Hussein, Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmininejad have no God.  But if they have no God, then it follows that Hitchens is not their god either.  And if Hitchens is not their god, why should they care what he calls them?  There is no god, and Hitchens is not his prophet."

Further, Wilson says of Hitchens, "his indignation is a floating indignation because it is not anchored to anything outside man.  And like all such things that float on the surface of turbulent ocean currents, in a couple of generations that indignation is likely to be a long way away from here"

Hitchens is himself inconsistent -- repulsed by the idea of a pregnant woman being kicked while lying on the ground but defending the killing of that same baby while the woman lies on a table at the local abortion clinic.  Wilson calls him on this in the movie.

Peter Hitchens is the only brother of Christopher Hitchens.  Peter was also an atheist, but is now a Christian.  In his book The Rage Against God Peter tells us that consciously or unconsciously, the atheist is one because he wants to do what he wants to  do when and how he wants to do it.   Psalm 10:4 says "In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, 'There is no God.'

Peter also explains that influential atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens live in the afterglow of the Christian west.   Their morality is still largely informed by it.   But the morality of future generations will not be, and the darkness that they are calling forth is beyond what they could imagine.  The London riots -- five days of random, wanton violence and destruction -- give a little window into what may be coming.   When asked why they participated, two girls answered, "It is the government's fault.   We did it to show them that we could."

Christopher Hitchens is presently dying from esophageal cancer.  He is using a  treatment  designed by evangelical scientist Francis Collins, but prospects are not good.  Pray for his salvation.

180 movie.... Pass it on.

Ray Comfort has made an powerful movie that is changing people's minds on abortion.
He clearly shows that the American abortion holocaust dwarfs the German Jewish holocaust.
There are some photos of the German holocaust.
See www.180movie.com

Bunyan's heart "softened by her [his wife's] tenderness and obedience"

Here is a sweet excerpt from the Memoirs of John Bunyan by George Offor that demonstrate the powerful influence of a godly wife:

"In this forlorn and miserable state, he was induced, by the persuasion of friends, under the invisible guidance of God, to enter into the marriage state. Such a youth, then only twenty years of age, would naturally be expected to marry some young woman as hardened as himself, but he made a very different choice. His earliest biographer says, with singular simplicity, 'his poverty, and irregular course of life, made it very difficult for him to get a wife suitable to his inclination; and because none that were rich would yield to his allurements, he found himself constrained to marry one without any fortune, though very virtuous, loving, and conformably obedient and obliging, being born of good, honest, godly parents, who had instructed her, as well as they were able, in the ways of truth and saving knowledge.'[45] The idea of his seeking a rich wife is sufficiently droll; he must have been naturally a persuasive lover, to have gained so good a helpmate. They were not troubled with sending cards, cake, or gloves, nor with the ceremony of receiving the visits of their friends in state; for he says, that 'This woman and I came together as poor as poor might be, not having so much household stuff as a dish or spoon betwixt us both.'[46] His wife had two books, The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, and The Practice of Piety; but what was of more importance than wealth or household stuff, she had that seed sown in her heart which no thief could steal.[47] She enticed and persuaded him to read those books. To do this he by application 'again recovered his reading, which he had almost lost.' His wife became an unspeakable blessing to him. She presents a pattern to any woman, who, having neglected the apostolic injunction not to be unequally yoked, finds herself under the dominion of a swearing dare devil. It affords a lovely proof of the insinuating benign favour of female influence. This was the more surprising, as he says, 'the thoughts of religion were very grievous to me,' and when 'books that concerned Christian piety were read in my hearing, it was as it were a prison to me.' In spite of all obstacles, his rugged heart was softened by her tenderness and obedience, he 'keeping on the old course,'[48] she upon every proper season teaching him how her father's piety secured his own and his family's happiness. Here was no upbraiding, no snubbing, no curtain lectures; all was affectionate, amiable mildness. At first, he became occasionally alarmed for his soul's salvation; then with the thought of having sinned away the day of grace, he plunged again into sin with greediness; anon a faint hope of mercy would fill him with fear and trembling. But this leads us to the wondrous narrative of his new birth.

John Wesley asks his mother about her educational methods.....

“The writing anything about my way of education I am much adverse to. It cannot, I think, be of service to anyone to know how I, who have lived such a retired life for so many years, used to employ my time and care in bringing up my own children. No one can, without renouncing the world, in the most literal sense, observe my methods; and there are few, if any, that would entirely devote above twenty years of the prime of life in hopes to save souls of their children, which they think may be saved without so much ado; for that was my principal intention, however unskillfully and unsuccessfully managed.” (Franklin Wilder, Immortal Mother, New York: Vantage Press, 1966, p. 43; italics added.)

Respect with Skin on -- How a Woman can Build Her House

In The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands Dr Laura Schlessinger quotes Tammy, whose father had given her this advice:
"You are marrying a man.  Always treat him like one and he will always act like one."
Tammy followed that advice and writes:
"I have noticed that in every area of our marriage, work, home, family, children, career, David excels when I treat him like a man.
             I mean by this that I do not demand he do thing. I ask. I suggest options for his problems and then let him pick one. I never differ with him in front of the children. I do not deal with his family in an unpleasant situation---I let him deal with his family.
                 I never do anything to embarrass him or make him feel less manly in front of his family, coworkers, children, neighbors, or friends.
               Let me tell you what this gets me. It gets me a man who is so comfortable with his masculinity that he can focus on being tender and loving and giving to me constantly because he is never concerned about protecting his ego or proving he is the 'man of the house.' I do that for him."

Let me add that, of course, sinners marry sinners, and so men will act less than manly and women will disrespect, but there is sufficient grace for those who repent and ask God to forgive.  Jesus was the only perfect manly man and he perfectly honored his father.   In Christ, his obedience can be credited to our account.

The Force of Influence

"In denying woman authority, which goes from the strong to the weak and is submitted to out of necessity, the Creator has accorded her influence, which typically goes form the weak to the strong and is freely accepted, but only on the condition that it is not at all evident."

Woman  Her Mission and Her Life by Adolphe Monod