Christian Music

I find it so unfortunate when I come across Christians who bag on Christian music. Now granted, there are some Christian bands out there that aren't very good but to throw out all Christian music because you've only been exposed to say Stryper, Amy Grant or Micahel W. Smith is not only sad but LAME! Below is a song that is musically and lyrically fantastic and expresses a heart attitude that we ought to have as Christians. To throw out music like this (which speaks the truth and is edifying) in favor of filling up on secular music is unfortunate to say the very least.

David Crowder shows how to play his sweet tune at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKPaXd5zRMI

Wholly Yours
I am full of earth
You are heaven’s worth
I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity
You are everything
that is bright and clean
The antonym of me
You are divinity

But a certain sign of grace is this
From a broken earth
flowers come up
Pushing through the dirt

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I wanna be holy like You are

You are everything
that is bright and clean
And You’re covering
me with Your majesty

And the truest sign of grace was this
From wounded hands
redemption fell down
Liberating man

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy like You are

But the harder I try
the more clearly can I feel
The depth of our fall and the weight of it all
And so this might could be
the most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean

Glory, hallelujah
Glory, glory, hallelujah
You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy like You are

So here I am, all of me
Finally everything
Wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly Yours
I am wholly, wholly Yours
I am full of earth and dirt and You

1 Cor. 9:20-22

Notice that Paul deliberately refused to customize his message or adjust his delivery to suit the Corinthian's philosophical bent or their cultural tastes. When he says later in the epistle, "To the Jews I became a Jew... to those without the law, as without law... to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1 Cor. 9:20-22), he was describing how he made himself a servant to all (v. 19) and the fellow of those whom he was trying to reach. In other words, he avoided making himself a stumbling block. He was not saying he adapted the gospel message (which he plainly said is a stumbling block- 1:23). He did not adopt methods to suit the taste of a worldly culture.

Paul had no thought of catering to a particular generation's preferences, and he used no gimmicks as attention-getters. Whatever antonym you can think of for the word showmanship would probably be a good description of Paul's style of public ministry. He wanted to make it clear to everyone (including the Corinthian converts themselves) that lives and hearts are renewed by means of the Word of God and nothing else. That way they would begin to understand and appreciate the power of the gospel message. 

-from The Truth War by John MacArthur

Evangelical Fad Surfing

Contemporary evangelicals have therefore become very much like "children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Eph. 4:14). They follow whatever is the latest popular trend. They buy whatever is the current best seller. They lineup to see any celebrity who speaks spiritual-sounding language. They watch eagerly for the next Hollywood movie with any "spiritual" theme or religious imagery that they can latch on to. And they discuss these fads and fashions endlessly, as if every cultural icon that captures evangelicals' attention had profound and serious spiritual significance.-from The Truth War by John MacArthur

Do you know people who fit this? It is so sad when people settle for a shallow Christianity or a an all together counterfeit faith when Christ is SO MUCH MORE!

Dublin Draws Near

I am beginning to dream of moving. Last night I drempt Matt and I were in Dublin looking for an apartment. I assume my dreams will become more and more about moving to Ireland now since the time is drawing near. Our house sold last week which can only be accounted for by God since the house market is so bad. God seems to be bringing everything about in perfect time. It has been quite amazing to watch God's hand in all of this since the beginning when Matt brought home a list of locations which have his program and we saw and considered Ireland for the first time. I thought for sure it was a pipe dream and was shocked when he was notified by Ireland that he was to have an interview. And he found this out the day before he went to Sacramento to interview. Turning down a great job opportunity in Sacramento was very difficult when Ireland seemed so unsure. But here we are and God has been at the center throughout the entire time, controlling all apsects. I am so grateful for this opportunity and this adventure we are about to have. God is so good and amazing and His blessings and provisions are stunning.

Proposition and Personal Element to Truth

"Let's be clear: truth certainly does entail more than bare propositions. There is without question a personal element to truth. Jesus himself made that point when he declared himself truth incarnate. Scripture also teaches that faith means receiving Christ for all that he is- knowing him in a real and personal sense and being indwelt by him- not merely assenting to a short list of disembodied truths about him (Matthew 7:21-23).

So it is quite true that faith cannot be reduced to mere assent to a finite set of propositions (James 2:19). I have made that point repeatedly in previous books. Saving faith is more than a merely intellectual nod of approval to the bare facts of a minimalist gospel outline. Authentic faith in Christ involves love for his person and willingness to surrender to his authority. The human heart, will and intellect all consent in the act of faith. In that sense, it is certainly correct, even necessary, to acknowledge that mere propositions can't do full justice to all the dimensions of truth.

On the other hand, truth simply cannot survive if stripped of propositional content. While it is quite true that believing the truth entails more than the assent of the human intellect to certain propositions, it is equally true that authentic faith never involves anything less. To reject the propositional content of the gospel is to forfeit saving faith, period."

-from The Truth War by John MacArthur

Things I will miss in Ireland #2

I often remind my husband how lucky he is to have a wife that is such a bargain shopper. My favorite stores is Ross followed by Old Navy. I also like to go the Gap at the outlet mall where I get killer deals. These are pretty much the only stores I shop at. I mean with the screaming deals you get at these stores who in their right mind would pay mall prices?! The best day was about one month ago when I was shopping at Ross and I found a pair of Old Navy jeans- and for $7.99 to boot! Shopping does not get any better than that!!

I met an English girl while in Thailand last fall who recognized my Old Navy shirt and told me they don't have Old Navy over there. I am sure there are no Ross stores and from what I hear Gap costs an arm and a leg. I may have to come home just to shop!

Things I will miss in Ireland #1...

I think that I will go on a wild blogging rampage about the things I will miss in Ireland to see if I can get them out of my system by sheer expression...

Things I will miss in Ireland #1...

MY BOOKS! What a wonderful bookshelf I had with a goldmine of books! Man, was it sad to pack this up!

As Dublin draws near I begin to think of the things that I will miss besides the obvious like my family, my friends and my cats (until they arrive in December).

As small as this may sound I will miss Saturday mornings at Brueggers Bagels with my hubby, drinking Bruegger's hazelnut cream coffee (my fav coffee), and eating whole wheat bagels with egg, cheddar, and sausage (my fav sandwich -outside of my mom's turkey salad and egg salad and my mother in law's grilled cheese). This is a serious treat to me! My friend Denise told me she saw lots of bagel shops in Dublin and lots of coffee houses but I think it will be hard to beat Brueggers!

Sweet Catch!

Since my brother-in-law Steven doe snot have a blog of his own I felt that I must take it upon myself to post this sweet catch. Nice work, bro!

One question: Did you use a small dog for bate?

98 Dublin FM

I have been streaming a radio station from Dublin for about the last month. The music isn't my favorite but it has regular news, traffic, and weather updates as well as some call in shows. Listening to it has given me a feel for the people and the city of Dublin.

To take a listen:
-Click on this link http://www.98fm.ie/default2.asp#
-Click on the orange circle on right side that says "Listen Live"

Surprising how much American music they play.

Which Theologian Are You?

Matt gave me this quiz quite a while ago but I saved it and stumbled across it today. Please take it and post which three theologians you are most like.

http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=44116


For me:
I came in as Martin Luther and then I had a threeway tie with John Calvin, Johnathan Edwards and of all people... Karl Barth!

...Hmm...

Loome's

Speaking of books, while I was in Minnesota recently I visited the neatest bookstore in Stillwater called Loome's Theological Book Store. The book store is set in a beautifully restored Old Swedish Covenant Church and is the largest secondhand dealer of theological books in the world! They supply institutional libraries, monastic communities, churches, clergy, scholars, and collectors with a vast array of books in theology, religion, and all related areas.

I was surpirsed to read this: "When most people in the upper Midwest think of Stillwater, they are thinking of great food, antiques and the beautiful St. Croix Valley. When people in Vienna, Tokyo, Oxford or Manila think of Stillwater, they are thinking about books.Stillwater, North America’s first Booktown, has been the destination of countless book collectors, librarians and bibliophiles from all over the world for twenty years. They often fly over New York, Chicago or L.A. to get to us. In the world of books, Stillwater is serious business.King Richard Booth, the self-proclaimed monarch of the first Booktown in the world, Hay-on-Wye in Wales, personally named Stillwater a Booktown at the first annual Stillwater Book Fair held in October, 1995."

Fascintating! This famous theological bookstore is located in the town of my birth and as such a book lover I am ashamed to say I never even knew it! Even though a large majority of the books seemed to be Catholic it was really neat to walk around in this very old church, on the creaky floors, and go up the narrow staircase that led to the balcony which overlooked where the pulpit would have been and to be surrounded by tons and tons of old theological books. The only thing that could make it better is if they had coffee in there- I could be lost for hours!

Choosing Books

We have received word recently from the hospital in Dublin that they may be calling for us as early as four weeks from now :) so we have kicked it up into high gear around our place. Last night I had to take down my book shelf and pack up my books which was so sad. I plan on bringing some books with me and so far I have it narrowed down to about 35 books. Realistically I will be lucky if I can fit 15-20 books in my bags. Some of the no contest books are as follows:

My Johnny Mac study Bible NKJV, my Cambridge NIV Bible, The Valley of Vision, Holiness by Sproul, Total Truth by Pearcy, How Shall We Then Live and Trilogy by Schaffer, Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer, Desiring God and Future Grace by Piper, a few philosophy books, and a few books on Great Saints from places I will be seeing like Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Kyper, and Fox's Book of Martyrs.

These are just a few of the books so far. Anyone have any ideas on how I can squeeze as many books as possible into my luggage?

Dublin Webcams

Want to see Dublin? Check out these sweet webcams. Whenever I check and see a sunny sky I have to call Matt up and tell him, "A Sunny day in Dublin!"

http://www.liveireland.com/webcams.shtml

The Cat Is Out of the Bag

Last night Matt and I arrived in Minnesota to tell the family our news. We made them play a trivia game about Dublin to guess where our new home would be. The trivia questions started out difficult but became easier as the quiz went on. I thought for sure the last two trivia questions would give it away but my family was convinced it was in the US so they did not get it. Finally after we talked them through the latitiude and longitude question Cbass guessed Ireland and won the prize, a key chain from Dublin. They all want to come visit!

Is Christianity Good for the World?

A friend of mine recently recommended a debate to me entitled "Is Christianity Good for the World?" The debators are Doug Wilson (team Christ) and Christopher Hitchens (team anti-christ). These are two well studied and articulate men. The dialogue is absolutely fascinating!

There are mutliple parts which may be devoured at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/mayweb-only/119-12.0.html


The debate focuses mostly on being able to account for one's morality. Here is a tidbit I particularly liked written from Wilson to Hitchens...

"You say in passing that ethical imperatives are "derived from innate human solidarity." A host of difficult questions immediately arise, which is perhaps why atheists are generally so coy about trying to answer this question. Derived by whom? Is this derivation authoritative? Do the rest of us ever get to vote on which derivations represent true, innate human solidarity? Do we ever get to vote on the authorized derivers? On what basis is innate human solidarity authoritative? If someone rejects innate human solidarity, are they being evil, or are they just a mutation in the inevitable changes that the evolutionary process requires? What is the precise nature of human solidarity? What is easier to read, the book of Romans or innate human solidarity? Are there different denominations that read the book of innate human solidarity differently? Which one is right? Who says?
And last, does innate human solidarity believe in God?" -Doug Wilson

Ice Cream made with Magic Hands

One of the many highlights of visiting my home town of Stillwater is going for an ice cream cone at my favorite ice cream shop, Nelson's. Nelson's is tiny brown house that sells huge ice cream cones for cheap. And the ice cream is the best I have ever had. Though there are tons of varied and delicious flavors my two favorite are their spumoni and peanut butter chocolate. SO GOOD! While I am down here in the desert I get my fill of peanut butter chocolate ice cream at Baskin Robins and that does the trick. I prefer to have ice cream out rather than buying it from the grocery store because the ice cream that you have out is made with magic hands and is way better. However, just recently I found some ice cream at the store that was made with magic hands. It is Kroger brand Peanut Butter Cookie Dough and it is the most delicious store ice cream I have ever had. In fact, I am eating some at this very moment and must go now to give it it's due attention. Later!

Like Peanut Butter and Jelly Go Together...

Over the weekend I went to Rialto Theater to see the Indigo Girls in concert. Though I don't listen to them much anymore they were my favorite group growing up. I have seen them twice as a young teen. Once they had a band with them and the other time it was just to the two of them with their guitars. I was pleasantly surprised to see them this time with just their guitars which is the way I prefer them. I never cease to be amazed at the incredible amount of talent possessed by the two of them, both with their guitar playing and voice harmonies. I have never heard two voices go together as beautifully and perfectly as theirs do! It appears that God made them to sing together.

It's funny listening to their lyrics now at this age and understanding so much more than I did as a teenager. Though I do not agree with a number of things they sing about I still appreciate their music and talent. I found myself thinking many times during the concert how amazing it would be to hear them singing Christian songs! With their unique style of singing different parts at the same time, perfect harmonies, and passionate guitar playing, it would be so awesome to apply that to the most beautiful songs about Christ!

Anyhoo, you never know what the Sovereign God will do, who He will transform and what He will use to bring glory to His name!

The Graduate

Here is a pic from Matt's graduation last weekend. I was so proud when they hooded him! CAPITAL JOB, HONEY!

Liberty

This is the cutest girl in the world, my niece, Liberty. Liberty is 2 and a half and was born the day the Lord took my father home to heaven. He wanted to live long enough to see his first granddaughter born. When she was born my sister's pastor took a picture of her and brought it over to my dad so he could see her. When he saw the picture he said, "Thank God," closed his eyes, and a few hours later was welcomed into heaven!

Some Camping Pics...

I Can't Wait to Go Again!

When I was young I used to sleep in a tent in my backyard with my sister Regan during the summer. As I grew up I slept in a tent outside of our cabin in northern Wisconsin a number of times. That was my experience of the great outdoors until recently. This weekend I had my first real camping experience. Our friends Ben and Lis invited us to go camping with them in Gardener Canyon which is south east of Tucson near Mt. Wrightston. The four of us miraculously squeezed all of our gear into our Honda Element and headed out Friday night. We arrived to our camp site after dark and immediately lit up a fire and began to have our first camping meal- BRAZILIAN STYLE HOT DOGS prepared by our resident Brazilian, Lis. Delicious! After this we relaxed by the fire, drinking wine and smoking cloves, cigars, and pipes for the rest of the night. It was pretty windy so we kept our fire small and left some coals burning when we went to bed. Ben and Lis pitched their tent while Matt and I converted our Element into our camping home- before you laugh let it be known the Honda Element was made to be a camping vehicle and has many camping accessories made for it. In the middle of the night we awoke to a blazing orange light. Matt looked out the window and said, "Oh my gosh!" As I looked out the window I saw a fire blazing and was afraid the woods were burning down with us in them! In reality our camp chair had blown in to the coals and caught fire. Ben, dressed in his black longjohns and looking like a ninja, dashed out of his tent and pulled the chair out of the fire covering it with dirt. Close call!

We awoke Saturday morning to the sound of light rain and small hail hitting our car. We could see Mt. Wrightston had been dusted with snow. I was afraid our camping adventure was ruined but God was so good and brought the sun out a short time later. We arose and began cooking breakfast on Ben's Coleman stove; eggs, bacon, hash browns coffee and HOMEMADE CHAI TEA Ben had learned to make from a Pakistani friend of his. Delicious! After breakfast we packed up small packs and headed out for a hike. We left the road and headed down a ravine where there was a small running stream. We sat by a little pool for a while where Lis spotted the first wildlife which was a small frog sun bathing in a cleft of a rock. Lis- who hates animals actually cried when she saw the frog- she is so funny! We then hiked up the stream a ways looking for wildlife and having stick races. I spotted a turtle in the stream which we had to pick up and take pictures of. I also saw a snake about two feet long but he slithered away before anyone else saw him. Matt found a very nice log that he had to take back for our fire pit on the hike back. When we returned to camp we had lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon reading, gathering wood, and taking naps. Matt drug a 15 foot dead yucca plant back to camp. When Ben saw it he and Matt seemed to exchange ideas telepathically and they began digging a hole in order to stand up this yucca as the "camp mascot, Roger." They dug and rolled large rocks together to stand Roger up. Roger was a ferocious looking yucca indeed. They were proud. Shortly after this some very large cows with big horns were spotted just west of our camp. They hung out for a long time, chewing the cud. A mom and baby calf walked just north of our camp and joined the cows to the west of us.

After naps Matt and Ben built up the fire for the evening's main event, STEAK OVER THE OPEN FIRE. After rubbing them with rock salt the porterhouse steaks were placed on the grate over the fire. In no time we were feasting on some of the best steaks we had ever had along with beans and garlic bread. We enjoyed the fire for the rest of the night, with more pipes, cigars, and cloves. We also indulged in a camping must have, SMORES! We had chocolate graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey's bars that were filled with peanut butter and brownie pieces. Delicious!

We awoke Sunday morning and whipped up some pancakes along with coffee and chai. We then packed up camp and headed out. Though another hike up the stream sounded good we were all ready for showers. Thanks be to Ben and Lis for taking us. I can't wait to go again!

Fresh from the Womb

This is my cousin Nichole's new baby, Luke. Is this not the cutest picture ever?!

Choose only 3

Let us talk books. If you had to choose only three books to be in your possession for the rest of your life what would you choose?

For me...
John MacArthur Study Bible
Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions
Trinity Hymnal

What would you choose?

Edwards Quote

"If God dwells in the heart, he will show that he is a God by the power of his operation. Christ is not in the heart of a Christian as a dead Saviour in a tomb, but as a risen and living Saviour in his temple." 

-Johnathan Edwards in The Experience That Counts

The True Christian is as a Child

"True spiritual affections turn a heart of stone more and more into a heart of flesh. They make the heart tender, like bruised flesh which is easily hurt. Christ points to this tenderness by speaking of the true Christian as a little child (Matt 10:42 and 18:3, John 13:33). The flesh of a little child is tender. So is the heart of a spiritually new-born person. And not only the flesh, but the mind of a little child is also tender. A little child easily feels sympathy and cannot bear to see others in distress. So it is with a Christian. Kindness easily wins the affection of a little child. So it is with a Christian. A little child easily becomes afraid at the appearance of outward evils. So a Christian becomes alarmed at the appearance of moral evil. When a little child meets anything threatening, it does not trust in its own strength, but runs to its parents. So a Christian is not self-confident in fighting spiritual enemies, but runs to Christ. A little child easily feels suspicious of danger in the dark, when alone, or far from home. So a Christian becomes aware of spiritual dangers, and feels concerned for his soul, when he cannot see his way clear before him; he is afraid of being left alone and at a distance from God. A little child easily feels afraid of his elders, fears their anger and trembles at their threats. So a Christian fears to offend God and trembles at God' chastening.
In all these ways a true Christian resembles a little child. In spiritual things, the tallest and strongest saint is the smallest and tenderest child."
-Johnathan Edwards in The Experience That Counts

Divine Beauty of God

"God is unique. He is utterly different from all others beings, and it is God's beauty, more than any other divine attribute, which sets him apart. This beauty is utterly different from all other beauty. So when the Christian sees this beauty in Christianity,he sees God in it. He sees the diving beauty which is the chief distinguishing feature of God. This gives the Christian a direct intuitive knowledge that Christ's gospel comes from God. He does not need to be convinced by long complicated arguments. The argument is simple: he grasps the truth of the gospel because he sees it divine beauty and glory.

Many of the most important truths of the gospel depend on its spiritual beauty. Since the natural man cannot see this beauty, it is little wonder he does not believe theses truths. Let me give some examples. Unless we see the beauty of holiness, we will be blind to the ugliness of sin. In consequence, we will not understand the way Scripture condemn sin. Nor will we understand what Scripture says about the terrible sinfulness of mankind. A person can only see and feel the desperate depravity of his own heart, if the Holy Spirit gives him this ability to taste the sweetness of holiness and the bitterness of sin. Only this convinces us that Scripture speaks truly about the corruption of human nature, man's need of a Savior, and God's mighty power to change and renew the human heart. It also convinces us that God is just in punishing sin so severely, and that man cannot atone for his own sin. This sense of spiritual beauty enables the soul to see the glory of Christ as Scripture reveals him. We understand the infinite value of his atonement and the excellence of the gospel way of salvation. We see that man's happiness consists in holiness, and we feel the indescribable glory of heaven. The truth of all these things appears to the soul, only when it receives that spiritual sense of divine beauty I have been speaking of."

-Johnathan Edwards in The Experience That Counts

My Wish List

Incase you haven't noticed I've added a new link on my blog which takes you to my Amazon.com wish list of desired books. My birthday is months off but here is my wish list so you don't have to guess what my heart desires!
P.S. Used books are fine with me- my only request is please no books with highlighting!

Rundown of the 2007 Ligonier Ministries National Conference

This was the fourth Ligonier Ministries National Conference I've attended and was my most favorite one yet. This years topic "Contending for the Truth" is a favorite of mine as it encompassed philosophy and apologetics. I wanted to tell you about each lecture but unfortunately I lost all the notes I took so here is just a brief rundown of the conference.

Zacharias opened the pre-conference up with a bang when he spoke on "Postmodernism and Philosophy." Zacharias is an impressive speaker to listen to; filled with insight, wisdom and awesome stories of personal experiences. Mohler followed with a lecture on "Postmodernism and Society." Mohler is so up to date and in the loop on culture and current events and has a keen and discerning mind. RC Sproul Jr. then spoke on "Postmodernism and Christianity." I always look forward to Sproul Jr.'s lectures each conference and wish he would speak more than once. A question and answer session followed with the above mentioned speakers which is always enlightening and entertaining.

RC Sproul opened the conference up Thursday night with an awesome lecture entitled "The Task of Apologetics." This was one of my favorite lectures of the entire conference. John Piper entered the conference after Sproul with a lecture called "Faith and Reason" which, delieverd with all of Piper's passion, was superb!

MacArthur was the first speaker Friday morning and opened up with "The Challenge of Science." I expected this to be similar to his most excellent series called "Battle for the Beginning" but it was not as good. If you do not have "Battle for the Beginning" I HIGHLY recommend it. Piper followed with the "The Challenge of Relativism." This lecture was good but I liked his first lecture better. MacAthur then blew the crowd away with his treament of "The Problem of Evil." This lecture was typical of MacArthur and was outstanding!

Zacharias spoke in the afternoon on "The Existence of God" which was good but I liked his first lecture better. Mohler closed the Friday afternoon session with "The Authority of Scripture." By this time I must admit my brain had started smoking and was no longer functioning properly. I will have to listen to this lecture again when I get the conference DVDs.

Mohler opened the conference back up Saturday morning with "The Holy Spirit and Apologetics." This was Mohler's best lecture of the conference in my opinion and was excellent. After this was the last question and answer session. Zacharias, Sproul, and Mohler handled the questions and never ceased to awe and amaze with their wisdom. Zacharias is bold in the truth and at the same time so compassionate and respectful to those of other beliefs it is no wonder he garners so much respect himself. Sproul closed out the conference with "The Resurrection of Christ" and started out speaking on philosophy and Kant. This lecture was so interesting but I didn't get to hear the entire thing because we had to leave early. I can't wait to get the conference DVDs to watch the rest of this one!

All of the speakers were so good but I would have to say this year my favorite was RC Sproul. I got so much out of his lectures and can't wait to see them again. The music this year was also wonderful and I bought a CD from the Westminster Brass. There is nothing like hearing "A Mighty Fortress" played by the brass and the hugest pipe organ I have ever seen. It makes you feel like Martin Luther make come walking out at any minute!

Next years conference will be on EVANGELISM with RC Sproul, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Sinclair Furgeson, and Johnny Erickson Tada. Hope to see you there!

*Listen to Piper's sermons from the conference under event messages at
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/EventMessages/ByDate/
The titles are "Faith and Reason" and "The Challenge of Relativism."

Next Week!

Next week at this time I'll be sitting under the teaching of the top Bible teachers in the world. I have been listening to interviews with Ravi Zacharias lately. I think he is the most brilliant man of our lifetime. What wisdom, discernment, and insight God has blessed him with! I also started reading his book "Can Man Live Without God" which is an extremely interesting and thought provoking read. See you soon ladies for the best Ligonier conference yet!