The hidden content in ancient works could be illuminated by a light source 10 billion times brighter than the Sun. The technique employs Britain’s new facility, the Diamond synchrotron, and could be used on works such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or musical scores by Bach.
Pulpit Magazine has a three-part series by John MacArthur on killing sin. He shares helpful, timeless advice that, while not new, is something we need to be reminded of often.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. —Romans 8:13
Ted Haggard (cf. the new TedHaggard.com | Wikipedia), the former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, has been in the spotlight recently for writing a letter to friends and colleagues asking for financial support for the next two years while he and his wife, Gayle, work on degrees at the University of Phoenix.
Gayle is in the undergraduate program studying psychology. I am pursuing my master of science in counseling degree, which means we are both full time students.
In 1996 Jeff Hannah, a married youth pastor at Crossroads Church (SBC) in Libertyville, IL, committed adultery with four teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 17 and received a sentence of nine years in prison.
In 2001, after serving five years, he was released on parole, remarried, and began attending First Baptist Church of Romeoville.
We often take a very negative approach to fighting sin: don’t lie because it is wrong, or don’t lust because God forbids it. These are true, but don’t go far enough, nor do they represent the fullness of the teaching of Scripture. Furthermore, they often prove ineffective. Our sinful hearts bristle at naked restrictions.
Since we’re on the subject of homosexuality (see here and here), I thought I’d pass along this helpful overview series by Neil Simpson. At his 4Simpsons blog he is analyzing the various approaches that gays use to justify their pro-gay beliefs in the name of Christianity. He categorizes them into three:
The Bible is either not the Word of God, or most parts of it aren’t.
The Bible is the Word of God, but it doesn’t really say homosexual behavior is wrong.
The Bible is the Word of God and does clearly and emphatically condemn gay behavior as sinful. However, the Holy Spirit has given additional revelations such that this behavior is now acceptable.
People naturally look to others for cues on fashion, speech, opinions, and whole life full of choices. Whatever decision we have to make, it seems easier when someone else has made it before us. We learn from these people. They teach us how to live life. Many of us come to respect and admire these models.
Christians often struggle with viewing their leaders as superhuman, almost beyond sin. The plain fact is that whoever your role model is, regardless of his position or intelligence, he still struggles with indwelling sin.
We’ve all had to deal with the trauma unleashed when one of these models fails. We’ve all felt hurt, deceived, or angry. If a leader falls that we didn’t particularly favor, maybe we even feel validated.
Christian leaders seem to fall the hardest. Their job is to preach and teach against sin, yet they inevitably give way to temptation. When that sin finally becomes public, particularly when it’s hidden or has been improperly dealt with, the world around them seems to implode. Their ministry is questioned, their accomplishments, even their religion. The problems in personal life casts a shadow across every context they live in.
Then the media digs in. Journalists spread the news, and the blogging aftermath lasts for weeks. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has a soapbox. The leader typically becomes either a martyr or a criminal. When the shine wears off the story, however, the man is soon forgotten.
Suzanne Hadley, writing for the Boundless Line, touches on the same topic. Her article highlighted an unusual thought that is too often absent from coverage of public failure. It’s an evidence of grace, thinking in this direction. Humanly speaking, this thought is not default.
Her mind does not tear into the villain, she looks instead toward herself:
. . . probably it hurts the most because it makes you more keenly aware of your own sin and propensity to fail. You think, If that person failed, what is the hope for me?
This attitude is nothing but the dramatic work of God. I’ve been the devastated pupil, I’ve been hurt by failure. I can attest, this thought was not controlling my mind.
If this perspective is so divine, so unnatural, what can we do about it? If this is how we’re programmed, what’s the point in complaining about it?
Suzanne points it out precisely:
The hope is Jesus Christ and the victory He promises. Living under Christ’s control and not becoming entangled in sin is possible. Still, in this world, we all experience moments of failure—some more devastating than others.
and,
It [hope] comes in the form of the truth God tells us about our sinful tendencies and the grace He offers through the all-sufficient sacrifice of His Son.
This thought, the Gospel, should be ruling our minds, dictating our thoughts, our speech, our actions. When we are aware of our own depravity and God’s view of it, we’ll be less tempted to condemn and more amazed by His grace at work in our lives.
Mark Driscoll (Wikipedia) shares some stunning statistics about pastors. I’m generally skeptical of statistics, but even allowing for a sizable margin of error, these statistics are stunning. Pastor Darrin Patrick from The Journey in Saint Louis compiled these statistics from Barna, Maranatha Life, and Focus on the Family and shared them in a message on the burden of pastoral ministry.
Pastors
Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
Fifty percent of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.
Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.
Pastors’ Wives
Eighty percent of pastors’ spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
Eighty percent of pastors’ spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.
Sixty-six-year-old Al Hill was forced to cut off his own leg with a pocket knife after a tree fell on him and pinned him to the ground for 11 hours last Friday.
Al Hill, 66, was cutting trees on a property near the Big Dipper Mine last Friday when a tree fell on his leg and trapped him, authorities said. Alone in the woods and in an area where cellular phone service is spotty or nonexistent, Hill was forced to take the extreme measure to save himself.
This story reminded me of the opening illustration in John Piper’s chapter on lust in Future Grace where he recounts how Donald Wyman did this exact same thing. The point that Piper makes is that Jesus says we need to attack lust with this kind of zeal.
Jesus knew that humans love to live. So he appealed to this passion in order to show the importance of purity. Just as Donald Wyman cut off his leg to save his life, Jesus commanded that we gouge out our eye to escape the fatal effect of lust. “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:28–29). Of course, if you gouge out your “right eye,” as Jesus says, you can still see the magazine with your left eye. So Jesus must have something even more radical in mind that literal mutilation (329–330).
It’s a great chapter to read and reread in its entirety. If you’ve never read it, you need to. If it’s been a while, it’s worth another read.
As the previous post suggests, Christian men must be deliberate in their battle against lust—especially, though certainly not exclusively, in their use of the internet. What do you do personally to guard your heart from the sin of lust? How do you avoid inappropriate content on the internet? Do you use an internet filter?1 Do you have an accountability partner or group? Do you use your computer only in an open area? Do you avoid getting on the internet when you’re alone? Do you stay off the internet late at night? Do you simply rely upon God’s grace through the Word and prayer? Take the poll, and share your tips with others in the comments.
Here are today’s bullet points:
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Pulpit Magazine has a three-part series by John MacArthur on killing sin. He shares helpful, timeless advice that, while not new, is something we need to be reminded of often.
In 1996 Jeff Hannah, a married youth pastor at 
We often take a very negative approach to fighting sin: don’t lie because it is wrong, or don’t lust because God forbids it. These are true, but don’t go far enough, nor do they represent the fullness of the teaching of Scripture. Furthermore, they often prove ineffective. Our sinful hearts bristle at naked restrictions.
Since we’re on the subject of homosexuality (see 
People naturally look to others for cues on fashion, speech, opinions, and whole life full of choices. Whatever decision we have to make, it seems easier when someone else has made it before us. We learn from these people. They teach us how to live life. Many of us come to respect and admire these models.
Sixty-six-year-old Al Hill was forced to cut off his own leg with a pocket knife after a tree fell on him and pinned him to the ground for 11 hours last Friday.
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