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I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have
power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and high
and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that
surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of
all the fullness of God. --Ephesians 3
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It's All in the Design
The Creational Pattern for Human Life

How well can you translate psycho-babble? Here's a test from J. Budziszewski's new book, WHAT WE CAN'T NOT KNOW. Not many years ago a physician wrote an article for a medical journal about a certain condition that affects only women. This condition, he wrote, should be regarded as an "illness" which is "almost entirely preventable." He said that the illness had "an excellent prognosis for . . . spontaneous recovery if managed under careful medical supervision," but that it may also be "treated" through "evacuation of the uterine contents."

What "illness" did the physician have in mind? Why pregnancy, of course. Yes, you read that right. He thought pregnancy should be defined as an illness. He didn't mean something that can go wrong in pregnancy -- he meant pregnancy itself. Most people see instantly that defining pregnancy as an illness is crazy. Pregnancy isn't something that goes wrong with a woman; it is provided for in her nature, her God-given design. It's something that goes right.

Budziszewski argues that you can learn a lot by studying the design of human nature. Not just our physical design, but our behavioral design as well. For example, we are designed for families. No mere human invented the family; no mere human could. Yet it exists everywhere, and for nurturing children, nothing can take its place.

Not only were we designed for families, but we were also designed for one-man, one-woman marriages. As sociologists Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur observe, "If we were asked to design a system for making sure that children's basic needs were met, we would probably come up with something quite similar to the two-parent ideal. Such a design . . . would provide a system of checks and balances that promoted quality parenting. The fact that both parents have a biological connection to the child would increase the likelihood that the parents would identify with the child and be willing to sacrifice for that child, and it would reduce the likelihood that either parent would abuse the child."

At some level, everyone recognizes facts like these. Marriage and family have been cherished in every society on earth, even places where God's Word has never reached. And this isn't an accident. As the Apostle Paul says in Acts 14, "God has not left Himself without witness," even among the pagans. And one of His witnesses is the way He designed us and made us.

Budziszewski points out that even in polygamous societies love poems are addressed from the lover to the beloved -- just two people. A love song "to my darlings, Mary, Ellen, Susan, Penelope, Martha, Hortense, and Gwen" would be recognized everywhere as farce.

Even the pagans knew that when we fight against the creational design for human nature, design wins. The Roman writer Horace wrote, "You can drive out nature with a pitchfork, but it always comes running back." We were made for marriage between a man and a woman and for family. These are things we can't not know.

To find out more about our creational design, I suggest that you read J. Budziszewski's new book, WHAT WE CAN'T NOT KNOW. You will find great apologetics material to use in defending the Christian faith with non-believing friends.


Chuck Colson
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If you don't know what an enigma is don't worry. That's exactly what
this mysterious word intends. An enigma is something perplexing and
hard to explain. It can also be a person who is difficult to
understand completely, someone whose behavior seems inexplicable.
Example: "Willie Wonka was an enigma -- nobody ever saw him or any
of his workers, yet his factory continued to produce truckloads of
the best chocolate."

Enigma, an English word since the 15th century, comes from the
Latin aenigma. This was derived from the Greek ainigma, from the
Greek ainissesthai (to speak in riddles). Ainissesthai was a variant of ainos (fable).

Near synonyms include: puzzle, riddle, conundrum, brain-teaser, and mystery.

Germans used an "Enigma" machine to secure their communications in WW2:
http://www.attlabs.att.co.uk/andyc/enigma/about_enigma.html

Play a word game inspired by the Enigma machine:
http://wordzap.com/enigma
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Modern-Day Renaissance
The Resurgence of Christian Fiction

April 27, 2006


After a long slump, Christian literature is finally experiencing a rebirth—and that's something to celebrate. The state of Christian fiction was so poor for a while that most Christians have forgotten what a rich heritage we actually have in fiction, from the likes of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Austen, O'Connor, and so many more. These writers understood that moral literature is one of the most important ways of transmitting Christian truth.

That's why I'm so thrilled to see the success of recent works such as the heartwarming Mitford series by Jan Karon; Susan Howatch's penetrating novels about the Anglican church; and the work of Australian novelist Tim Winton (which will be highlighted in an upcoming issue of our BreakPoint WorldView magazine). And just this year, as I've mentioned before on "BreakPoint," it was a simple but stunning Christian novel by Marilynne Robinson called Gilead that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Now even the Washington Post is saluting Christian literature. In a recent review of the new novel Abide with Me, "Book World" senior editor Ron Charles observed, "Too often [in Christian novels], churchy language forces the rich ambiguity of good fiction to get 'left behind.' Lately, though, a few novels full of Christian faith have managed to transcend sectarian piety and speak to a large, diverse audience."

Especially when he talks about the need to get rid of "churchy language" in fiction, Charles is right on target. For years, most Christian authors wrote only to an audience that was familiar with a certain brand of Christian terminology. At the same time, these authors were so caught up in trying to spread the message of Christ through their work that their novels sounded like propaganda. They clearly considered things like plot and characterization unimportant. The unfortunate result was a rash of novels designed to push the Christian message to an unbelieving world, but written in a way that ended up turning off unbelievers.

What a difference we're seeing now! Many of the best Christian novels being published these days, such as Gilead, Abide with Me, and Leif Enger's wonderful Peace Like a River, are rich in plot and characterization as well as faith. These books are about good but flawed people struggling through tough situations, just like many of us do. God's grace is a real and powerful presence in these books, yet it's not some kind of magic medicine automatically making everything all better.

Abide with Me, the book that Charles was reviewing, is by Elizabeth Strout, who describes herself as more of a "church-hopper" than a committed churchgoer. Yet she reveals a deep understanding of faith in writing about a widowed minister raising a troubled daughter, and contending with gossip, bickering, and other sins among his congregation. (Like Susan Howatch's novels, the book contains rough language and a couple of graphic descriptions. It's not for kids.) But, you see, there are no easy answers for these characters in the book, just as there are not in real life. But ultimately grace and compassion win out, even for those who seem utterly lost. This is a poignant picture of God's grace working in the everyday world, done with the kind of refreshing honesty that can capture secular audiences.

The success of these books is a hopeful sign that Christian fiction might recover its proud heritage.




Get links to further information on today's topic



For printer-friendly version, simply visit www.breakpoint.org
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An Iceberg That Melts

It's sure no secret...people can disappoint us
and do things that cause pain in our hearts.
And if we don't forgive daily & let God have the pain
it's the time when a grudge tends to start.
If we focus too long on the person who offends us
we will justify the hardness we feel,
Making it impossible to forgive our offender
and find peace that's supernaturally real.
But, what if every time a grudge starts to grow
and wrap its tentacles in deep, hidden places,
We instead faced a mirror alone with our Savior
and stared long at our very own faces.
What if we just stood there and took personal inventory
of all He's done since our day of salvation.
All the sin He's forgiven....all the wrong He has pardoned
through the process of regeneration.
For it's then we will realize we really have no option
but to forgive as God told us to do.
To wipe clean the slate...like Christ did for us
and let mercy be the path we walk through.
For to walk in the Spirit means walking in obedience
and not by the rules in our heads.
For the grudge of unforgiveness is an iceberg that melts
when we focus on ourselves instead.

Sheila Gosney


“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” MARK 11:25-26

If you do not know Christ or His forgiveness
and would like to read more, please click here.
http://www.ccwonline.org/way.html
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