If this page looks wierd, sorry

I am currently trying to fix some formatting issues that I have had. So if you visit this page and see some issues with formatting or if something is ugly, it is probably because I am messing with it. Please be patient and check back in a few hours (hopefully minutes), but I'm having a difficult time figuring this out so we'll see. There are currently no formatting issues if you use Firefox as your browser.

Thanks for visiting.
 -Jacob

A Prayer for Mercy by John Piper

O Father, how we need mercy. We sin every day. We fall short of your command to love you with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. We are lukewarm in our affections. All our motives, even at their best, are mixed. We murmur. We are anxious about tomorrow. We get angry too quickly. We desire what ought not be desired.

Rick Warren, PDL, & Blogging

The following is an open letter to Jason Janz, myself, and other bloggers in response to the harsh tones of criticisms of Rick Warren and the Purpose Driven Life often levied among our side of the blogosphere. It was initiated as I read a post (not even about this topic) on SharperIron.org, an excellent blog.

Jason-
  I just read your post on advertising on SharperIron. I just wanted to say congratulations on your success. I am just getting started on my end (hantla.com/blog) and like it is for everyone (except Phil Johnson) the going is slow. I've sat back as a reading-but non-contributing fan of SharperIron for some time. When I read the post on your advertising aspirations, I came across a backhanded reference to Rick Warren ("Contrary to Rick Warren, I don’t associate numerical success with the blessing of God."). I have fought many fights, trying to encourage pastors (particularly pastors in my own family) to not use his material and to show them the problems with it. I would be known in my family and those in my local body who have heard me chime in on the subject as "anti-Purpose-Driven-Life." I have mentioned that only to give you background as to where I'm coming from. My gut cheers when I hear the slights that he receives often in my favorite neighborhoods on the blogosphere, but I'm pretty sure that those cheers are not flowing from a true concern for the Gospel. I think my gut in these times is more flesh-powered than Spirit-powered. Although it isn't very well written, I would be interested in you reading a post that I wrote a couple weeks ago on the topic of discussing PDL and letting me know what you think.

After much thought and many replies to emails and comments that I received based on that original post, my concerns are primarily three-fold:

Isn't It Ironic?

I just thought that this story on two of PETA's employees being arrested for "animal cruelty" after they dumped euthanized cats and dogs into a shopping center dumpster was a little bit too ironic to not at least give a little notice to.

Abraham Piper's Excellent Blog

This morning I accidentally stumbled on Abraham Piper's blog, CISongs. It is a wonderfully refreshing site designed that contains nothing but lyrics to songs/poems that he has written. I'll definitely be returning often. Here's a sampling, entitled "Clinging to the Cross,"  that refreshed my soul greatly this morning:

I cling fast to the cross that drowned
my sin in blood—in Christ’s blood.
(And I) shout aloud with a grateful sound,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

If you are slipping, here’s your solid ground—
If you’re in bondage, here you’ll be unbound—
If you are lost, here you may be found—
Clinging to the cross where your sins are drowned
In blood, in blood—in Christ’s blood!

(And we) shout aloud with a grateful sound,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

'The Ultimate and Final Question" by Lloyd-Jones

There can be no doubt whatsoever that all the troubles in the Church today, and most of the troubles in the world, are due to a departure from the authority of the Bible. And, alas, it was the Church herself that led in the so-called Higher Criticism that came from Germany just over a hundred years ago. Human philosophy took the place of revelation, man's opinions were exalted and Church leaders talked about 'the advance of knowledge and science', and 'the assured results' of such knowledge. The Bible then became a book just like any other book, out-of-date in certain respects, wrong in other respects, and so on. It was no longer a book on which you could rely implicitly.