Pastor Steve shares these links to stimulate some Thursday Thoughts...

Holiday Gluttony … Brad Hambrick over at Biblical Counseling Coalition takes on a subject most everyone needs to hear and no one wants to hear; especially at this time of year – OVEREATING. He writes: “Are we really going to talk about gluttony at this time of the year? Do we have to? Yes, we need to talk about it, and if your instinct is to think this discussion can only be a “guilt trip,” then we need to talk about it all the more. When we only talk about “bad sins,” meaning the kind that no one in our “in group” admits to committing, then we relegate the power of the gospel only to salvation and crises; or in other words, after we’ve “walked the aisle,” the gospel is just for others who “need Jesus” or whose lives are falling apart.” You can read the rest HERE.

Creation’s Beauty … The Washington Post (digital) has a section called “In Sight – Images of Our World” (always worth a look). December 28^th they ran photos of Lake Erie taken by Canadian photographer, David Sanford. You’ll love these … and as a Christian you will rejoice in the grandeur of God’s creation. Check them out HERE.

Guns or No Guns … Dr. John Piper caused a stir (nothing new for him) with his posting about Christians and guns. His opinions seemed reasonable enough – but under the scrutiny of other pastors/authors it fell short of passing muster. Some disagreed with his conclusions, others simply didn’t agree with the biblical road he chose to get there. All of this came in response to Jerry Falwell Jr.’s encouragement to the students of Liberty University to arm themselves so that, if necessary, they could “end those Muslims before they walked in” – and “Let’s teach a lesson if they ever show up here.”. None of these men, including Piper, agreed with the tenor of his words. Given the “front page” context of this issue, you should take the time to read his post, and a couple of others I’ve shared. (For what it’s worth – like others, I found Piper’s piece short of the mark). Perhaps the strongest reason to read this is to see the charitable handling of differing opinions between Christians on a secondary issue that these men offered.