What's Wrong With Burning Aborted Babies?: A Common Grace Defense of Disgust

The bodies of thousands of aborted and miscarried babies were incinerated as investigation has found. The Department of Health issued an instant ban on the practice which health minister Dr Dan Poulter branded 'totally unacceptable.' But before it was ended, at least 15,500 fetal remains were incinerated over the last two years alone,clinical waste in the United Kingdom, with some even used to heat hospitals.....

Commenting on the news, my friend Mollie Hemingway says, "People are reacting to this story with the natural revulsion one feels for such callous treatment of humans . . ." From what I've seen, though, the "natural revulsion" has primarily been expressed by those within the pro-life community. I suspect that those who have no qualms about the dismembering of babies would likely not be disgusted by the burning of their bodies.

Unfortunately, Christians have helped contribute to this callous disregard by undermining the role of disgust in helping to recognize and restrain sinful behavior. While we should never be disgusted by people there a broad range of human behaviors that we should find inherently disgusting. Yet while disgust was once considered a guide (albeit a fallible one) to God's natural law, we now chastise Christians for even implying that any sinful behavior can be disgusting.    Continue at Joe Carter

Amazed By Common Grace

Common Grace. It is a term used in theology to describe the grace God gives to every living person on planet earth. It is called “common,” not because it is not worth that much, but because everyone alive gets it.

Grace by definition can never be demanded. God gives grace, not because He has to, but because He decides to. The scripture says that God “makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

How gracious this is of God. God doesn’t discriminate against the non-Christian in sending His rain, but gives it freely to saint and sinner alike. That should amaze us. It should take our breath away in fact. Yet the concept of common grace doesn’t usually do that for us. We’re very much accustomed to it, because it is so common, but we must always remember that God is exceedingly gracious in dispensing this kind of grace on people. The point being, He in no way has to. Keep Reading>>>

Hope in a Pornified World

Most men who are my age or older remember a day when pornography was rare and taboo. Pornography has existed as long as the camera has existed (and before that in more rudimentary forms, I’m sure) but has always been difficult to find and has always carried some kind of stigma. Today the tables have turned and porn has gone mainstream. Instead of being a shameful addiction it is now the punch line in jokes, the subject of sitcom episodes. Porn stars are admired. It’s probably significant that we don’t speak of “porn actors” but “porn stars” as if there is something inherently glamorous in their line of work. Books and magazines encourage us all to enjoy porn, to allow it to add a little spice to our relationships. It’s a lot harder to avoid porn than it is to find it. Continue Reading HERE