Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Manhood


It is not one's age that makes that person a man, it is character.
To be a man is not to grow taller in stature only, but also in favor with God and man.
Physically one must stop growing. Yet spiritually, if one believes that they have attained full stature, than they have just betrayed how small they truly are.
 
Through His Strength We Will Conquer,
Andrew C. Abbott

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The pursuit of knowledge


I have met young men who, in the pursuit of knowledge, have forgotten the pursuit of almost anything else.

The pursuit of knowledge is no excuse for not pursuing wisdom, which is much more precious. Knowledge without wisdom is like a deadly weapon in the hands of a child.
 
This is not to say that knowledge is bad, it is very good is many senses. However, the ultimate pursuit is not knowledge; it is the glory of God.

Through His Strength We Will Conquer,
Andrew C. Abbott

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Biographies


“Study men.”
Patrick Henry-
Biographies. From John G. Paton's Missionary Patriarch, to tales of Livingstone, Knox, or Calvin. The scriptures tell us to seek out wise men and learn from them. While many great men have lived and died, their wisdom, their stories, their lives are still with us, and can teach us many things. The life of Richard the Lion heart can teach us to guard against pride, the lives of the martyrs can encourage us to stand fast, and the life of Earnest Shackleton can give us a passion for exploration, so yes, "Study Men", however, recall with Job's friend that "Great men are not always wise." (Job 32:9)

Through His Strength We Will Conquer,
Andrew C. Abbott

Monday, December 17, 2012

On the Shootings

Last Friday, December 14 2012, a tragedy occurred in a school in Connecticut. Twenty seven precious lives were lost to a gunman's fury. Twenty six lives not only precious to their friends and those around them, but also precious to their Creator. Such a crisis needs to be met with wisdom, not fear and panic.

Not long ago the people of America watched on their television screens or heard from other sources of another shooting that happened in Colorado. The cases were similar, and the results in both were tragic. However, this is not a time for Americans to cry out against the weapons used, but against the depravity displayed. Take away the guns, and men will kill with their fists. In both of these cases men who refused to believe on the Son, placed themselves in the stead of God, to decide who may live and who may die. The sin that lurked in the heart of these men is within all of us, and only the Providence of God stays it from pouring out. Rather than acting as if we are above such things, we should thank God it was not us that did the deed. We should repent of the sins in our own lives, for all are equally horrible in the eyes of God.

And now I may say that, that after all of this, that today, the first school day after the tragedy, thousands of parents got up this morning, gave their children breakfast, and sent them on the little yellow school bus once again, to be indoctrinated in the ways of Charles Darwin, a way that, if taken logically to its full conclusions, (although many would say otherwise, and few would countenance such behavior), provoke such things as these shootings, with the strong dominating the weak, and fighting to survive in "Survival of the Fittest."

In the 1960s, a show ran on television called "The Twilight Zone," about all sorts of odd things. One of the episodes run was called "The Shelter." In it, a perfectly presented social life is carried on until there is threat of a hydrogen bomb, there is only one shelter, and only room for one family. These social perfectionists and rich party goers begin to fight like animals for the the bomb shelter. That is the end of all of mankind without the redeeming power of the gospel. Only borrowed Christian principles and social pressures keep back these impulses, the natural state of man in his lost condition is a thing horrible and dreadful. Man, in his natural condition, will kill his own family for food. These shootings have reminded us how far we can fall, even as it is a tragedy, it pales compared to the amount of murders perpetrated by white collared "civilized" doctors in abortion clinics every day. When one man was asked what he though of Western Civilization, he said it would be a good idea.

Through His Strength We Will Conquer,
Andrew C. Abbott