So I am at the library today checking out John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and the librarian at the counter tells me, “I think we have this on video if you would rather see the movie.”

One hundred million children under the age of 15 live in the Arab world and at least half of them have access to satellite television. SAT-7 KIDS provides Christian programming for children in the Arab world 24 hours a day.

SAT-7 KIDS is the first and only Arabic Christian channel exclusively for children. This channel aims to make the Gospel of Christ available to an entire generation of young Arabs in a way meaningful to them. The channel airs original dramas, talk shows, educational material, cartoons, music programs and other shows that capture the attention of young viewers.

You can watch a live streaming broadcast of SAT-7 KIDS here. I enjoyed it even not knowing the language. (HT: 30 Days of Prayer)

Abraham Piper asks: “What are you better at than other people?…Now you know what you should do for them.”

Former President George W. Bush speaks out on President Barack Obama, saying he wants Obama to succeed and that it’s “essential” to support the new leader. Instead of taking potshots at Obama, Bush said the new president has enough critics and that he “deserves my silence.” Bush also said, “I love my country a lot more than I love politics. I think it is essential that he be helped in office.”

Ray Pritchard reminds us that God’s delays are not the same as God’s denials. “If Jesus had healed Lazarus, that would have been a great miracle. Raising him from the dead was an even greater one. God’s delays are not the same as God’s denials. If we know that, we can keep believing even while we wait for an answer that has not yet come. You never know when a resurrection is on the way.”

Peter Leichart shares some lenten thoughts on fasting and feasting. “Fasting looks like an enemy to life, but the opposite is true. We live abundantly only if we know how to fast—which is to say, only if we are disciplined to wait until the feast is ready. Lent trains us to be a people of patience and restraint, a people who rejoices in a God who has time and gives us time and makes us wait for the treasures He gives.”

David Wayne (who is battling cancer) writes about suffering as witness. “The thinking goes that God sends trials to teach us a lesson and thus, we should expect relief once the lesson is learned. When the trial continues beyond what we expected or hoped, we wonder what is wrong with us — we [think we] must not have learned enough from them … [W]hile acknowledging that suffering has a teaching focus in the life of a believer, I think we ought to expand our view of suffering to see it as a means of witness. I know that many do, but maybe this ought to be given the greater weight.”

I was watching some of this on the news last night. It is really amazing.

(Video length: 1:38)

An undersea volcano in the South Pacific is spewing stunning columns of smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the air. The eruption began Monday after a series of earthquakes near Tonga, a 170-island archipelago between Australia and Tahiti, residents told the Associated Press. There were magnitude-5.0 quakes there Sunday night and Monday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Though the Wellington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) issued an advisory for the area, the plume isn’t endangering island residents and so far hasn’t hurt fish or other animals, according to the AP.

Yesterday a plume rose to between 15,000 and 25,000 feet (4.6 to 7.6 kilometers), the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program reported. “It’s a very significant eruption, on quite a large scale,” Tonga’s chief geologist, Kelepi Maf, told the Times of London. This is not unusual for this area and we expect this to happen here at any time.” (Scientific American)

(From The Cartoon Blog)

We once did a skit at our church very similar to this as a way of reminding our people to reach out to guests on Sunday mornings. Does this cartoon remind you of your church at all? What are some ways your church tries to make guests feel welcome?

Related post: The Dullest Blog in the World

Rose is off to Texas for a couple weeks to visit her parents, so I am back to playing Mr. Mom. If I do anything stupid, I will be sure to let you know. (Isn’t that what blogs are for?) Meanwhile, you can catch up on earlier installments of Mr. Mom here:

• Playing Mr. Mom
• Mr. Mom Calls Texas

• Obama’s Prayer Partners. The New York Times has an interesting article on the five pastors President Obama calls for prayer and conversation.
• dc Talk’s Tait Join Newsboys. Former dc Talk member Michael Tait will be touring with the Newsboys as their lead singer, the band announced this week.
• Dawn Treader Gets a New Release Date. Good news for Narnia fans! Walden Media and Twentieth-Century Fox have gone back to a winter release date for the third installment of the Chronicles of Narnia movies. The new release date is December 10, 2010.
• James Dobson Steps Down. “Focus on the Family’s James C. Dobson, Ph.D., has stepped down as board chairman of the ministry he founded 32 years ago … His wife, National Day of Prayer Chairman Shirley Dobson, has also left the Focus on the Family Board of Directors. They have been elected to the positions of Founder and Chairman Emeritus and Director Emerita, respectively, for the nonprofit ministry they started in 1977.”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

(Video length: 8:32)

A little girl asked her father, “Daddy, where did people come from?”

He answered, “God created the first man and woman, then they had children, and that’s where we came from.”

“Okay,” she said, and went off to find her mother. “Mommy,” she asked, “where did people come from?”

Her mother answered, “Well, there were these monkeys, and over time they changed into people, and that’s where we came from.”

The little girl went back to her father. “Daddy, I’m confused. You say God created us, and Mommy says we came from monkeys. I don’t understand.”

Her father replied, “Honey, it’s simple. Let me explain it to you. Your mother was telling you about her side of the family.”

(heard at a conference last weekend)

Yesterday’s message in the Gospel of Mark series was called Authority to Forgive, taken from Mark 2:1-12. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. The faith of the friends (verses 1-5)
    A. They brought their friend to Jesus.
    B. They persevered through the obstacles.
    C. Jesus forgave their friend’s sin.

II. The condemnation of the leaders (verses 6-7)
    A. They accuse Jesus of blasphemy.
    B. Their question: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

III. Jesus’ authority to forgive (verses 8-12)
    A. Jesus’ question: “Which is easier to say?”
    B. His demonstration: “Get up, take your mat and walk.”
    C. The people’s reaction: amazement and praise

Applications:
    1) We need to bring our friends to Jesus.
    2) We need to recognize that not all people will accept Christ.
    3) We need to come to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.

Some of you have been following and praying for the proposed merger between Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and New City Church in South Florida. This morning Tullian Tchividjian preached his candidating sermon at Coral Ridge. The membership of Coral Ridge voted following the service at a special congregational meeting with 91% of the congregation voting to support the call. So, it is now official. The two congregations will unite for their first worship service on Easter Sunday, April 12th.

This is a culmination of many months of meetings, planning and prayer between the leadership of the two congregations. Please continue to pray for a smooth transition for both congregations as they come together to serve the Lord in South Florida. (Note: Coral Ridge was founded and pastored by Dr. D. James Kennedy who went home to be with the Lord in September, 2007 at the age of 76. Tullian will be the church’s second pastor.)

Related post:  Interview with Tullian Tchividjian

The New York Times quotation of the day:

“I knew what I was doing was wrong, indeed criminal,” he said. “When I began the Ponzi scheme, I believed it would end shortly and I would be able to extricate myself and my clients.”

But finding an exit “proved difficult, and ultimately impossible,” he continued, stumbling slightly in his prepared remarks. “As the years went by I realized this day, and my arrest, would inevitably come.” (Bernie Madoff, pleading guilty to a Ponzi scheme involving billions of dollars)

This quote is a sad reminder of how yielding to sin seems like a small thing in the beginning but eventually can take over and ruin a life. It also brings to mind Proverbs 21:6: “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare,” and 1 Timothy 6:9: “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

Those are some hard verses to come to terms with. My prayer is that Madoff would also come to experience the truth of these precious verses from the Psalms:

“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:1-5)