C.S. Lewis' Compelling Story of Conversion from Atheism to Theism to Christian Faith

The above video caught my eye as I was doing some reading of Rick Thompson's blog, The Road We Travel, between our worship services this Sunday morning. Rick is a fellow pastor, friend, and pretty sharp guy in every aspect. I really enjoyed the video regarding C.S. Lewis and his conversion to Christ, and I believe it will be enlightening to you as well, particularly in light of our mutual desire to see people come to faith in Christ. Let me also encourage you to read Rick's blog. He is always insightful, and your walk with Christ will be strengthened.

I will be out of pocket for the next couple of weeks in terms of this blog. I look forward to returning Sunday, March 21, 2010. Due to my inability to access a computer and dialogue with commentors, the ability to leave a comment at Grace and Truth to You has been turned off until I return to country.

In His Grace,

Wade Burleson

My Prayers Are With the Son of Hamas--Mosab Hassan Yousef

Last October 4, 2009, we had Mosab Hassan Yousef speak at our church. You may listen to his message by clicking here, signing up for access to our televised archives, and go to the October 4 service broadcast. It's worth the effort. We found Mosab to be engaging, genuine and bold in his testimony for Christ. If you would prefer, I would encourage you to read this excellent Wall Street story on Mosab. Mosab's new book, The Son of Hamas was released this week. Mosab's nationwide profile is much higher today than it was a week ago.

In my conversations with Mosab I was struck with the love that he had for his father. Mosab shared with us that his life would be in great danger if his father ever officially "disowned" him. Hamas would, in essence, see that decision by their leader as an invitation to take Mosab's life. But even though Mosab had been public about his conversion to Christ when he spoke at our church last October, there had been no public disavowal of Mosab by his father. However, The Wall Street Journal article quotes Mosab's father (Sheikh Yousef) as saying this past Monday "I and my family have completely disowned the man who was our oldest son and who is called Mosab."

My prayers are with Mosab. He is truly a former Muslim turned Christian--and in personal danger. I would encourage you to both pray for him and purchase his book. I received mine Friday and have already read it. It is gripping in every sense of the word.

A Southern Baptist Pastor Speaks to His People About the Power of Women

As I was cleaning out some of my old files I came across a letter sent to me in 2008 from a Southern Baptist pastor who was not very happy with Dr. Sheri Klouda losing her job as Professor of Hebrew at Southwestern Theological Seminary. The letter, published in his church's newspaper, portrays an uncommon courage among Southern Baptists. This highly educated Ph.D. graduate of one of our SBC seminaries (2008)is pretty cogent and clear. I enjoyed the letter, and with the author's permission, offer it to you for your reflection. For those who wish to object, "But what about Paul's words in I Timothy 2 commanding women to keep silent and not taking any authority over men?" This conservative inerrantist responds: Go buy Jon Zens new book.

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Dear Church family,

In Acts, Chapter 18, we are introduced to Priscilla and her husband, Aquila. Let's consider some characteristics of Priscilla:

(1) She was career woman, a tent maker by trade. We know this because Paul refers to her and Aquila in the 3rd person plural when he speaks of his own experience in the trade.

(2) She was a teacher perhaps similar to a seminary professor in the sense that she taught Apollos a clearer understanding of orthodoxy (Acts 18:26). So great a teacher was she along with her husband that when Apollos arrived in Achaia, he greatly encouraged the Christians there and powerfully defended the faith (Acts 18:28).

(3) She was obviously a devoted wife for she is constantly mentioned along with her husband, Aquilla, beside whom she served the Lord faithfully.

Isn't it interesting that in the first century church, a woman could have a career (okay... a trade), be a teacher OF MEN (oh... perish the thought), and still be a devoted wife? Why do so many leaders in my denomination insist that a woman cannot be a "biblical" wife and still have a career while enjoying equality in the church as one who is "made in God's image?"

As a Southern Baptist and as a doctoral student at one of our seminaries, I have been utterly embarrassed by the way one of the other seminary presidents treated Dr. Klouda. It is absolutely insane. So why am I bothering you with all this now? Well, it seems that ever since the Klouda fiasco, some Southern Baptists have been pouring out of the woodwork to somehow defend their twisted and unjust view of gender issues. On his blog, Wade Burleson has commented on this phenomenon which seems to be getting out of hand. You can read Wade Burleson's latest blog article by clicking here.

Before you run off to Burleson's site, let me say one other thing in the way of empirical testimony that has shaped my understanding of gender issues more than the Klouda case or anything else going on in this "La La Land " known as the Southern Baptist Convention. My mother was a career woman out of necessity not out of feminism or any other social movement. The 70s was a time of mind-boggling inflation, and it was no time to be worrying about social movements especially if you wanted to put food on the table. As a single parent, my mom worked hard for little pay. Nothing was saved; it took all she could make just to live.

Now, don't get me wrong. Strong godly homes with two godly parents (Mothers and Fathers) are the ideal. Single-parenthood is nothing to strive for, and I take my own responsibilities as a husband and father to be the MOST important responsibilities that I have. Yet, when I was young (and I think my sister would agree), our best days spiritually, emotionally, and morally occurred in the absence of a man in the home despite the financial burden. I was brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in the absence of man in the home. When I found myself wanting to be like my earthly father instead of my Heavenly Father, that's when I ended up in trouble as a teenager.

I know many of you do not care for Barak Obama, and as pastor (not to mention an elections official), I'm not endorsing or condemning Obama in anyway. However, I've heard him say something recently concerning the one time that he met his father at the age of ten that has resonated with me and it's this: "I considered the absence of my father to be a strength."

I say all that to say this: My mother, when left alone, was able to work and be a mother raising a future attorney (my sister) and a future Christian minister (me) doing doctoral studies at the seminary. It was only when the man returned to the home from time to time that much of my mom's work was undermined and at times, seemingly destroyed (and would've been if it had not been for God's grace).

Thus, like Priscilla who helped prepare Apollos for his ministry in Achaia, my mom did more for me shaping my future ministry than any man ever could. Unfortunately, the giftedness of such women in the church is being stifled for the goofiest of reasons. Therefore, I speak out now because as I watch many Southern Baptist churches become stagnate and slowly die or being built around personalities rather than the Holy Spirit, I know that the church will continue to decrease in relevency until ALL those gifted for ministry by the Holy Spirit are allowed to serve the Lord just as they were allowed to do in the first century when one woman helped prepare a man for the mission field.

Pastor Billy

May the tribe of men like Pastor Billy increase in the SBC.

Amputee Apologizes for Fabricating Story About His Leg, Says Story "Snowballed"

I found the following article from the Tuesday Metro Section The Daily Oklahoman very interesting:

The executive director of an Oklahoma City-based organization providing prosthetic limbs to the needy has apologized to donors and supporters for perpetuating a false story about how he lost his own leg.

For years, Craig Gavras, director of the Limbs for Life Foundation, has been known as a former Dallas police officer who lost his leg after being attacked by an angry mob.

In actuality, Gavras was never a police officer, although he was a Dallas police recruit when he injured his right knee while jogging in 1989. The injury caused him to resign from the police academy, and the leg – which had already been operated on several times due to an earlier sports injury – was amputated in 1993.

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News last week, Gavras said that he lied about his background and injury at a symposium sometime around 1996 because “an accident in the academy just didn’t sound glamorous.”

His lie appeared in news stories over the years, including some in The Oklahoman, and he didn’t take steps to correct it.

“I was doing some speeches around the country, and the intros got embellished,” he told The Oklahoman on Monday. “I didn’t correct it at the time. It perpetuated and snowballed, and I didn’t know how to stop it.”

Friday night, Gavras posted an apology on the foundations’ Web site, said Ryan McGhee, the foundation’s public relations director. Gavras apologized to about 500 donors and supporters Saturday at the foundation’s ninth annual benefit gala at the Dallas Trade Mart.

“The hardest part was taking that first step in front of them,” Gavras said. “I was extremely scared and extremely embarrassed, but when I was finished, I knew it was the right thing to do.”

The foundation’s board chairman, Denielle Taylor, posted words of support for Gavras on the foundation Web site.

“We fully support…Gavras’ excellent work to support the amputee community over the past 15 years,” Taylor wrote, “We will continue to work to improve the lives of amputees worldwide.”

The foundation has given limbs to more than 10,000 amputees and is part of an effort to help supply artificial limbs and therapy to victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

You Are Never Too Old, Nor Is It Ever Too Late, To Change

The old saying "you can't teach old dogs new tricks"--though possibly challenged as to its veracity by The Dog Whisperer--is a common assumption by most. Many feel that the older a person becomes, the less likely he will ever change. Cynicism only deepens when an older person faces imminent death and "comes to Christ." Many Christians feel that "jailhouse" or "fox-hole" conversions can't be real. Professed changes of character late in life, or minutes from death, seem to create cynicism.

But we who believe that the grace of God is often given in different seasons of life point to "the thief on the cross." Just hours before his death, he was converted to faith in Christ. However, even we who believe it's never too late to change don't fully understand the dramatic change that occurred in the thief within the last few hours of his death. We often point out that of the two thieves crucified beside Christ, one mocked Him and was condemned, and the other one believed on Him and was taken to paradise upon death. But we don't see how bad off both were in the last hours of their lives.

When both thieves were initially hung on the crosses beside Christ, BOTH mocked him. Mark 15:32 --

"And they that were crucified with him reviled him"

Something happened to one of the thieves. He who had mocked Christ at the 9:00 a.m. hour (Mark 15:32) came to the place by the afternoon where he rebuked the other thief for his mocking of Christ, saying:

Do you not fear God, seeing that you are experiencing the same condemnation? And we deserve our sentence of condemnation, a just punishment for our actions. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he turned to Jesus and said, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

The story of the TWO thieves on the cross, who both mocked Christ at the beginning of the crucifixion, is testimony to us all that one is never too old, nor is it ever too late, to change.

In His Grace,

Wade