Son of Hamas: an interview with Mosab Yousef, a former terrorist, now believer (GQ Mag). "Last week Mosab Yousef, the eldest son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, dropped a book more incendiary than any roadside IED, betraying his family, the Palestinian people, and Muslims the world over. Son of Hamas chronicles the decade Yousef spent as a spy for Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service. In it, Yousef unspools one of the most unlikely tales of our time, narrating the events that led to his disillusionment with Hamas and Islam, his conversion to Christianity, and his kinship with his Israeli handlers, which transformed a boy throwing stones during the first intifada, into a dedicated Shin Bet agent by the start of the second." 

Hope in Discouraging Times (Randy Alcorn) "Several people have already asked about my response to the passage of the Health Care Reform Bill and its inclusion of abortion. Yes, I am deeply concerned about its effect on unborn children. However, even though this bill has passed, the righteous cause of the unborn is not over. The indictment against people who shed innocent blood is not over. The command of God is not over: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; defend the rights of the poor and needy”

The Lost Girls: The growing problem of sex slavery in the US (Carolyn McCulley). "Texas Monthly has published a comprehensive article about the burgeoning sex trafficking problem in Houston and other U.S. cities. It provides an in-depth look at the issue of trafficking, how it is handled legally, and what the victims have to endure. Though it is not a comfortable article to read, I believe it is important for us to know the scope of the problem and what can be done about it..." 

I Don’t Want My Children to Be Happy (Missy) "Dear Shepherd, Sissy, Maggie and Ikey,
Recently we were told by people whom we love and respect why they oppose our plans to adopt. One of the reasons given was that we would not be able to pay for your college education. It's true...."

 

The Scandal of Gendercide—War on Baby Girls (Al Mohler) "The reality has been known for years now, though the Western media have generally resisted any direct coverage of the horror. That changed this week when The Economist published its stunning cover story -- "Gendercide -- What Happened to 100 Million Baby Girls?" In many nations of the world, there is an all-out war on baby girls. In 1990, economist Amartya Sen estimated that 100 million baby girls were missing -- sacrificed by parents who desired a son. Two decades later, multiple millions of missing baby girls must be added to that total, victims of abortion, infanticide, or fatal neglect."

Credit Where its due: Morality, Poverty and Evangelicals (Chuck Colson) "In a recent New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof credits evangelicals with pushing for AIDS and malaria programs and for “doing superb work on issues from human trafficking in India to mass rape in Congo.” This is in contrast, he says, to the “save-the-worlders,”—that is, liberals. Kristof credits liberals for being concerned about poverty because for decades, they have supported big-government programs for the poor and sick, both at home and abroad. But since when is supporting government-run programs the only way, or even the best way, to help the world’s poor?..."

Finding God’s Direction in your life (David Jeremiah). "God loves to do astounding things. Most of the time, they are in response to the prayers of His people. Throughout my years as a pastor, a number of people have come to me for counsel on how to find the direction God has set forward for their life. I have to admit, my straightforwardness is not lacking in my response to them: "Have you prayed about it?" More often than not, the reply affirms my suspicions..."

A Puritan Prayer (from the Valley of Vision)  "Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou has brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;.."

A Biblical Theology of Prayer (Edmund Clowney). "'Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name . . .' From around the globe the heavenly Father is addressed in the languages of earth. The prayer that Jesus taught begins where prayer must begin - with the true and living God. The Bible is God's Word; it is his story of his work in bringing rebellious men and women back to himself. It tells, not of man's seeking a lost God, but of God's seeking lost men. The Bible does not present an art of prayer; it presents the God of prayer, the God who calls before we answer and answers before we call (Isa. 65:24)..."

Confidence to Approach God Together (Dan Cruver) "Hebrews 10:19-25 is a text I return to fairly often, especially when I am preparing myself for corporate worship. My default mode is to read “enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” and “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” from an individualistic perspective. I can read those words and think primarily about the great privilege I have to approach the Majesty on High (Hebrews 1:3) privately. But the writer of Hebrews is not so much thinking of believers approaching God privately as he is about believers approaching God corporately."

“Unquestioning Christians” and Atheistic Bluster (Phil Johnson) "I don't encourage anyone to hang around the infidel sectors of the Internet or interact on a large scale with the many missionaries of skepticism who love to vent their hatred of God along with copious amounts of profanity, smutty language, lewd innuendo, blind rage, and pathologically pugnacious attitudes wherever they can find an unmoderated forum..."

Do We Need to Tell People the Bad News Before the Good News? (Paul Copan) "We’ve seen them in all manner of places—on street corners, in parking lots, at craft fairs, outside stadiums. Sometimes they’re on wearing placards, admonishing hearers to “turn or burn.” Or perhaps they’re warning America of coming judgment and doom. Others may prefer challenging individual “sinners” on the street, exposing them to their failure to live up to the Ten Commandments. A common justification from those “witnessing” is: “You need to tell people the bad news before they can listen to the good news....”

Is Jesus an Egomaniac? (John Piper) "Erik Reece is writer-in-residence at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, teaching environmental journalism, writing, and literature. He published a book last April entitled, An American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God. On May 13, 2009, he did an interview on National Public Radio with Terry Gross on the program Fresh Air about his book."