(1) John MacArthur: The Assault on the Virgin Birth |BGEA
…You may be wondering why the virgin birth—of all the miracles in Scripture—is so frequently attacked. After all, if one can believe, say, that Moses parted the Red Sea, what’s the big deal about a virgin birth? It certainly isn’t as spectacular a miracle. And Scripture devotes relatively little space to describing it. Can it really be that important?
Yes. The virgin birth is an underlying assumption in everything the Bible says about Jesus. To throw out the virgin birth is to reject Christ’s deity, the accuracy and authority of Scripture, and a host of other related doctrines central to the Christian faith. No issue is more important to our understanding of who Jesus is than the virgin birth.
If we deny that Jesus is God, we have denied the very essence of Christianity. Everything else the Bible teaches about Christ hinges on the truth we celebrate at Christmas—that Jesus is God in human flesh. If the story of His birth is merely a fabricated or trumped-up legend, then so is the rest of what Scripture tells us about Him. The virgin birth is as crucial as the resurrection in substantiating His deity. It is not an optional truth. Anyone who rejects Christ’s deity rejects Christ absolutely—even if he pretends otherwise (1 John 4:1-3). …
(2) Most Americans Say Assisted Suicide is Morally Acceptable |LifeWay
The American Medical Association has described physician-assisted suicide as a serious risk to society and “fundamentally incompatible with a physician’s role as healer.”
Millions of Americans disagree.
Two-thirds say it is morally acceptable for terminally ill patients to ask their doctors for help in ending their lives, according to a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. A similar number says doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients die. …
(3) How God Used Billy Graham to Influence ‘Fixer Upper’ Family |BGEA
…But the true foundation beneath each home they build or renovate is their faith.
Chip’s faith journey can actually be traced back to a Billy Graham Crusade the year after he was born.
“The impact that man has had on my life is immeasurable,” Chip said.
In 1975, his mother, Gayle, attended a Billy Graham Crusade in Albuquerque. Rededicating her life to the Lord, Gayle was changed that night, and Billy Graham’s impact on her would cascade down to the rest of the family.
“His simple sermons brought people from all denominations and churches; whenever they extended an invitation to believe, attendees would swarm to the front,” Chip said.
“Even though my mom had been baptized at the age of 8, she decided to go forward to answer the invitation to believe. My parents made attending church a priority, (which) strengthened their marriage, and they involved themselves in a young couple’s Sunday school class. In the 1990s my mom worked at Word Publishing, which published books for Billy Graham. She found continued encouragement in his writing.”
While Billy Graham set the spiritual trajectory of Chip’s life, it was another Graham family member who personally mentored him in living out his faith: Danny Lotz, Billy Graham’s late son-in-law.
As a young man, Chip—who attended Baylor University, as did Lotz’s three children—spent a week in the home of Danny and Anne Graham Lotz.
“He wasn’t a pastor, but he was influential in showing me how to live out my faith, even in a secular environment,” Chip said. “He impacted my life by spurring me to shape my choices with my faith and to walk in my faith regardless of my ‘calling.’
“He challenged me to process what God was doing in my life and train my mind with God’s truth. I learned so much from him, and he always spoke so highly of (Billy Graham), who he said talked the talk and walked the walk. So, to this day I think about talking the talk and walking the walk because of Billy Graham and Danny Lotz.” …
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