Register to Vote!

I hope all believers exercise their right to vote this fall!

"A government of the people, by the people, and for the people only happens when people vote."

How Porn Damages Women

I just read a very insightful and concise article titled An Equal-Opportunity Destroyer by the editors of Christianity Today. Check out this powerful excerpt:

In a "sexually obese" culture like ours (a phrase from psychiatrist Mary Ann Layden), people who never use porn end up bearing its costs. That includes wives, who are held up to impossible sexual standards and are as robbed of sexual intimacy as their addicted husbands are. That also includes teenage girls, who are being taught by the entertainment industry and boyfriends that being a woman is about being hypersexual for others.

But because porn literally rewires the brain, creating neural pathways that change how users understand the world, we know that porn warps how men and women see each other. Porn is demonic not primarily because it is addictive. It is demonic because it always flattens three-dimensional humans—especially women—to a collection of body parts meant for others' gratification, sullying the full glory that God intended them to reflect. And often it leads addicts to flatten women too, despite their beliefs or intentions.

Love Relationship

Earlier tonight we had a lesson/discussion in youth group about the Greatest Command: to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Deut 6, Matt 22, Mark 12, Luke 10)

It's a big topic and our time was limited, so we talked about our attitude toward God; how (as far as I know) this is unique to our religion; how loving God ultimately translates to obedience, yet adds a "filter" through which we view God's commands and our motivation for obeying.

And while we mentioned how God desires to have a love relationship with us, what we didn't have time to cover last night was how much God loves us (indeed loved us first)! That has me thinking...what if God didn't love us, and yet declared his greatest command to be that we should love Him? How different would that command be!

I watched the musical Annie! last week, and the orphans are compelled to tell their evil mistress, "We love you, Miss Hannigan!" It's of course a phony exchange for the girls to proclaim their love for her, and even Miss Hannigan knows it's a ridiculous formality meant to demonstrate her bitter authority. But our commandment to love the Lord has a whole different flavor, because He has loved us with an everlasting love. (Jer. 31:3)

God, in His infinite wonder, is able to love us when we are unlovable (Rom. 5:8). But we, in our weakness, are not forced to love an indifferent or spiteful God...we're invited to love Him completely, and in so doing complete the circuit of a two-way love relationship.

Avoiding Old Flames on Facebook

Some good thoughts for those of us who are (a) married and (b) on Facebook:

Her.meneutics: Avoiding Old Flames on Facebook

Quote

‎"Christianity, if false, is of no importance; if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."

- C.S.Lewis

The Big Game!

This summer our church has two softball teams, and this Sunday, August 1st, they are scheduled to play against each other! It'll be a lot of fun, and if you've thought about coming to watch us play, this is the perfect week for it!

The game is at 6:00 p.m. and should be over by about 7:15. It will be played at Dancer Park, field #10 (the field in the far back corner of the park). The weather forecast looks pleasant, and it would be fun to see you there!

Play ball!

New downloads available

On our web site's Sermons, Etc page you'll find our last two sermons by guest speakers Gerry Clark and Rich Bryson. Gerry preached about Contentment on July 18th, while Rich brought a message about worship the following Sunday.

In addition, we recorded our New Hope band rendition of Revelation Song, which followed Rich's sermon.

Enjoy!