Pilgrim's Progress - the movie

I'm not sure that any movie can do justice to John Bunyan's literary masterpiece, Pilgrim's Progress. However, a recent movie telling this story is worth watching. Our family enjoyed watching Pilgrim's Progress - Journey to Heaven. Because the film has a relatively low budget, the special effects are not Hollywood quality. Despite this, the movie is still well-made, well-acted, and faithful to Bunyan's wonderful allegory of the Christian life. Below is a short video that tells more about the film. I encourage you to watch it.

John Piper on People Groups and India

Frightened By What I Deserve

For the past two weeks we have been studying Genesis 3 at Chevis Oaks Baptist Church. The more we look at this chapter, the more I realize that I deserve to hang on a cross. I could never pay for my guilt as Jesus did, but I still deserve it. When I think about the details of the crucifixion, I am horrified by it. That is what this video describes.


What is even more amazing is that the spiritual pain for Christ was even worse than the physical torture this video describes.

Praise God for His amazing grace!

Only a Politician Could Root for the Phillies AND Rays in the World Series

Go Phillies!!!

Video: Christians Under Attack in India

Christians continue to suffer terribly in parts of India. In order to see and hear about this, click here to watch a BBC report.

Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ as they face persecution. Pray for steadfastness, strength, and hope.

Watch this Desiring God Video about James 3

Click here to read James 3:1-12.

Take a Look at Nature Worshipers

Click here to watch a video a those who worship nature. It is sad and pathetic. When I watch things like this, I praise the Lord for His glorious grace in saving me from spiritual bondage.

The Gospel in 6 Minutes

Please watch this excellent, heartfelt discussion of the gospel.



Thanks to my friend Nick, from whose website I swiped this video.

I Can't Wait for This to be Released!

I've already pre-ordered the ESV Study Bible. You should, too.

If God is so powerful and so good, why do bad things happen?

Voddie Baucham gets it right. In fact, he hits the nail on the head.

Oprah's New Church

You may have already seen this, but if not, please watch. The video speaks for itself.

A Homeschool Family in Action...

Click here to see a great video about an amazing homeschooling family.

i bible

I think most of you have seen this one. Regardless, I think you'll like (or still like) it. I especially enjoy the unique feature for Southern Baptists.

Is My Daughter Going to Date?

My oldest child is almost 14-years-old. I'm not sure how that happened, but the reality is that Caroline is now much closer to going to college than she is to diapers.

I have to face the fact that she is a teenager. By the grace of God, she does not fit the stereotype of the typical moody and disrespectful teen. Actually, I think many teens act that way because parents expect them to do so.

One aspect of teen life in the USA is dating. This is almost universal in our country. Despite this, Alice and I refuse to just accept this societal norm without thinking through its ramifications.

We have searched the bible to see if we can find dating anywhere. We cannot. In fact, what we see is the parents arranging the marriages of their children. Jesus grew up in that culture. He never said anything against the arrangement of marriages whatsoever. He did make clear, however, that once a person is married, that marriage should be permanent.

Interestingly, when we lived in India we met many young people who thought that their parents should arrange their marriages. They thought this because they realized that their parents had been married for a while, had experience in marriage, and would make a wise choice. The divorce rate in India is far lower than it is in the USA; part of that has to do with the arrangement of the marriages.

Alice and I have looked at what dating has wrought upon our culture in America. The best way to put it is that it has provided practice for divorce. Many teens go through multiple relationships relatively quickly. Furthermore, teens continue to engage in pre-marital sex at an alarming rate, in large part because of dating. I see little difference in the behaviors of Christian and non-Christian teens in this area. Most teens who engage in sex do not end up marrying the person they were dating when this happened. Their breakup (if they were even together in a non-physical way) sets them up for later divorce.

What option is there today? I think the bible gives us an excellent answer for that. In the bible we read about a betrothal period that took place prior to marriage. That model could be used today like this: it would begin with the parents meeting regularly to talk things over. I would hope that the young man and woman would be given the opportunity to meet each other, and be given veto power over the marriage if their proposed spouse seems like a real dud to them. Assuming all parties are in agreement, the young man would then begin to court his future bride. This would occur with supervision so that they would not be placed in tempting situations. After a time of courting, they would then enter the actual betrothal period, which is much more serious than just a regular modern engagement.

During the betrothal period in the bible, the young woman would go to live in the home of the young man and his parents. This may have been exactly what was going on at the time Mary (the mother of Jesus) became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Because things are so different in our culture, I doubt that we would have our daughters go to live in the home of their future spouses. However, I would make every effort to have our children, during betrothal, get to be with their future spouses during all different kinds of situations.

The purpose of all this is to honor God by setting our children up for the best marriages possible. Courtship and betrothal do this. Dating does not.

Of course, if all else fails, I could always get a trunk monkey (ha-ha)...

One Semester of Spanish - Love Song

He seems to be doing pretty well for only one semester. Enjoy!

Merry Tossmas!

"Christmas with a Capital C"

The key here is the audio much more than the video. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Evolution - Can it Be?

A Better (3-D) Version of "The Play"

Click to enjoy.

Two Favorite Videos

These are two of my favorite video clips. Enjoy.

Click here for the famous 1982 Cal-Stanford football winning play. It is the greatest, and craziest, football play ever.

Click here for a humorous look at the situation in Iraq.