Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Aiming Higher

Aiming Higher

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When Evangelical Christians turn on the TV, check their Facebook, or read the news, a wagging of the head is likely becoming a more frequent response. We read about the latest antics of some pop-star and wonder how such an innocent young man with swooshy hair, a properly auto-tuned voice, the high pitched squeals of adoration from millions of 14 year old girls, and his trademark face on lunch-boxes, pillow cases, and toothbrushes could turn into such a confused individual. How could this have happened?! We hear about Washington gridlock, where one party gets up in arms because the other party wants to reduce a food stamps program by $8 billion. The accusation is that the latter party hates the poor, wants them to starve, and probably kicked a puppy earlier in the day. However, what we fail to note is that both parties are, in fact, proposing increasing the spending on food stamps from what it is currently; only, one party doesn’t want to increase quite as much as the other! What scoundrels! Our magazines, movies, music and media are full of endless stories of rape, divorce, violence, infidelity, irresponsibility, and this doesn’t only describe low-income communities; this deterioration of society is from the top down. [Read more…] about Aiming Higher

The Recipe for Spiritual Starvation

The Recipe for Spiritual Starvation

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Scripture warns us to take heed over 60 times, and each of these instances would provide a profitable meditation for our soul. We are exhorted, when we think we are standing, to take heed lest we fall (1 Cor. 10:12). The nature of man’s soul is such that we can be starving spiritually, and yet think ourselves healthy and robust merely because we do a whole bunch of spiritually oriented things. Modern Christianity is filled with many instances of this standing but actually falling paradox.11197799356_ffd65dfbb0_o

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Scratching the Itch

Scratching the Itch

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The flesh is always itching, and no amount of Gold Bond will help. There are numerous ways humans seek to scratch the itch, and the fight I want to pick is not primarily with the backscratcher or the ointment, it is with the itch itself. The flesh’s itch is the itch for gratification.  Although God made us to be satisfied, delighted, even overjoyed, we decided that we want to be satisfied by anything other than Him. We don’t mind using aspects of Who He is to gratify us; but we don’t want just Him, only Him, nothing but Him. Human nature is such that it is always seeking ways to be satisfied, soothed, petted, and coddled. We itch for appeasement, pleasure, and self-satisfaction. The itch should simply be called “selfishness.” Joy or Entertainment [Read more…] about Scratching the Itch

And Still the Light Grew: A Tribute to C.S. Lewis

And Still the Light Grew: A Tribute to C.S. Lewis

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Fifty years ago today, Jack Lewis entered the High Countries (as he called it). This man’s testimony (going from Atheism to And still the light grewChristianity), though marked by imperfections, is also marked by incredible richness and above all was a voice of sanity in an era of madness. He had a prophetic edge to much of what He said, and now we are living in an age of thought which he foresaw, and warned us to flee. The postmodernist mantra of the subjectivity of truth, the diminishment of reason for the sake of “communalism,” and the misdirected use of joy and desire were all things Lewis combatted, decades before they became the prevailing “winds of doctrine (Eph. 4:14).”

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One Desire

One Desire

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When I graduated high school, someone, very wisely, rather than giving me “10 Steps to a Successful Life,” or “The Future is Yours Graduate,” they gave me a little, tacky looking book by a guy named A.W. Tozer. The book: The Knowledge of the Holy. It turned my life upside down, and I have yet to recover from topsy-turviness. I have come to grips with the fact that holding to the historic, biblical, heroic Christian truths will make my viewpoints seem cockeyed to this world. Tozer, unlike most in his generation, was unwilling to have a mere mental ascendency to truth; he was concerned with the human being experiencing the majesty and glory of the thrice-holy God. [Read more…] about One Desire

A Glad Gravitas

A Glad Gravitas

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If Christ be not risen, life is miserable for a Christian. That about sums it up.Garden Sun If Jesus is not alive right now, then of all the people of the earth, Christians are the most to be pitied, and are living a miserable life. The Apostle Paul makes this same argument in 1 Corinthians 15, and how right he is. For the Christian, the resurrection of Jesus ought to be more than a reason to hide candy laden eggs for children. The resurrection is a line of demarcation that separates the grumpy from the glad. The resurrection is a reason to daily rejoice and celebrate like kids at the end of a school year.

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Ben Zornes