I Am Not a Victim - I found this post a real joy to read: “By the world's standards, I am disabled. Contrary to the stories I have told, I am not the victim of a shark attack or a vicious anaconda. I am not, in fact, a victim at all. I was formed this way. I was born before the days where ultrasounds were a part of standard care. My disability was a complete surprise to my parents, to the doctors, and to the entire small town where I was born.”

The Church in Great Britain - D.A. Carson heard what Mark Driscoll said recently about the church in Great Britain and offers a different take. “I have no reason to doubt Mark’s sincere concern for the gospel in the UK and for young ministers there. Nevertheless, you might be interested in hearing another perspective.”

The Elephant in the Room - Here’s a really important article from Voddie Baucham on The Elephant Room. Baucham discusses how he was invited to participate, why he said no, and why he was recently taken off the roster of speakers at a Harvest event.

Songwriter’s Glossary - Bobby Gilles has put together The Songwriter's Glossary Of Poetic & Rhetorical Devices and he includes helpful examples from many hymns.

Coal - “Coal occupies a central position in modern human endeavors. Last year over 7000 megatons were mined worldwide. Powerful, yet dirty and dangerous, use of coal is expanding every year, with 2010 witnessing a production increase of 6.8%.” The Big Picture has a photo gallery.

Tennis - Here’s one for the tennis fan: highlights from the Australian Open and Andy Murray’s battle with Michael Llodra.

If God should justify a people and not sanctify them, he would justify a people whom he could not glorify. —Thomas Watson

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Francis Schaeffer. Though I never met the man and though I haven’t read more than small pieces of his books, I owe a great debt of gratitude to him. Schaeffer shaped me by first shaping my parents. To mark this date I asked my parents if they would tell how Francis Schaeffer saved their saved souls.

(This afternoon you’ll have a chance to win The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer)

Francis Schaeffer did not save my soul. But he did save my saved soul. Let me explain.

My husband, John, and I became Christians in 1972. Neither one of us has had a moment's doubt about the truth claims of Scripture since that time. But those first years were very difficult, nonetheless, both doctrinally and emotionally. Why?

We became Christians through Pentecostals, as do so many. They were fine people—loving, supportive, passionate in their faith. But, their theological flaws quickly exhausted us to the point we could not see our way forward in Christian life. What were these flaws? The most important was their two-tier approach to knowing God. The Bible was considered an important means to knowledge of God, undoubtedly. But, the superior way, just as undoubtedly, was to know God "directly". Not through the medium of Scripture but im-mediately, mystically, through the revelations and experiences of tongues and prophecies. Sounds good in one sense, doesn't it? But, as I said above, in practice, how exhausting! God's ways and thoughts had to be known day by day rather than once and for all. In no time, we were two worn out little pilgrims. I remember saying to John, "There is no more security in Christian life than there is in non-Christian living."

And then a wonderful friend told us about Francis Schaeffer. At the first possible opportunity, on our honeymoon to be exact!, we stopped by Swiss L'Abri. We read all of Schaeffer's books. We spent a summer at English L'Abri.  And, four years later, we took our then-family of two boys—Andrew and baby challies.com (aka Tim)—back to English L'Abri for an entire year.

Francis Schaeffer coined some interesting terms—things like true truth and nothing nothing. He wasn’t just being silly; he was making important statements about the world. Here, from He Is There And He Is Not Silent is his description of nothing nothing.

We are considering existence, the fact that something is there. Remember Jean-Paul Sartre’s statement that the basic philosophic question is that something is there rather than nothing being there. The first basic answer is that everything that exists has come out of absolutely nothing. In other words, you begin with nothing. Now, to hold this view, it must be absolutely nothing. It must be what I call nothing nothing. It cannot be nothing something or something nothing. If one is to accept this answer, it must be nothing nothing, which means there must be no energy, no mass, no motion, and no personality.

My description of nothing nothing runs like this. Suppose we had a very black blackboard which had never been used. On this blackboard we drew a circle, and inside that circle there was everything that was — and there was nothing within the circle. Then we erase the circle. This is nothing nothing. You must not let anybody say he is giving an answer beginning with nothing and then really begin with something: energy, mass, motion, or personality. That would be something, and something is not nothing.

The truth is I have never heard this argument sustained, for it is unthinkable that all that now is has come out of utter nothing. But theoretically, that is the first possible answer.

I love writing book reviews and I love reading them. Since I cannot possibly read and review all of the interesting books out there, I’ve decided to put together some occasional round-ups of reviews written by other writers. Here are a few notable links I’ve collected over the past few weeks.

The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams by Heath Lambert - review by Bob Kellemen. “While not everyone will agree with all of Lambert's contrasts and comparisons, especially those most loyal to Jay Adams and his nouthetic counseling model, the book successfully breaks down many still-existing stereotypes about the modern biblical counseling movement. More importantly, it articulates a robust, relational approach to one-another ministry while teaching about the history of the movement.”

Education or Imitation?: Bible Interpretation for Dummies Like You and Me by Curtis Allen - review by Aaron Armstrong. “I believe Education or Imitation will be a great benefit to anyone who reads it--especially those who think they're not ‘smart’ enough to understand the Bible. ‘If you are a Christian, there is nothing standing in your way’ of interpreting and applying the Scriptures. Rejoice and be encouraged!”

Gospel Powered Humility by William P. Farley - review by Aimee Byrd. “After serving up a convicting gut check on intellectual pride, spiritual pride, selfish ambition, and pride in your giftedness, Farley offers up the most powerful part of his book: hope for proud Christians.” (I wrote an endorsement for this book some time ago and found it worth the recommendation.)

Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson - review by Matthew Kresge. “Overall, I highly recommend this book. I would encourage you to sit under Wilson's passion and learn from a humble man who dwells in the Gospel. It will stir your affections and drive you to worship our King Jesus. I plan on reading it again in 2012.” He gives it 5 out of 5 stars.