Thought Quotient

Michael W. Smith - How To Say Goodbye music video

Psalm 119:80
Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.

From Charles Spurgeon:

We may regard this inspired prayer as containing within itself the assurance that those who keep close to the Word of God shall never have cause to be ashamed of doing so.

See, the prayer is for soundness of heart. A sound creed is good, a sound judgment concerning it is better, but a sound heart toward the truth is best of all. We must love the truth, feel the truth, and obey the truth, otherwise we are not truly sound in God’s statutes. Are there many in these evil days who are sound? Oh, that the writer and the reader may be two of this sort!

Many will be ashamed in the last great day, when all disputes will be decided. Then they will see the folly of their inventions and be filled with remorse because of their proud infidelity and willful defiance of the Lord; but he who believed what the Lord taught and did what the Lord commanded will stand forth justified in what he did. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun. Men much slandered and abused shall find their shame turned into glory in that day.

Let us pray the prayer of our text, and we may be sure that its promise will be fulfilled to us. If the Lord makes us sound, He will keep us safe.

Mat Kearney - Girl America

my girl america is just a youth is this world
her smile is more precious than the sparkle of pearls
and though her age reads she’s just a young girl
the age behind her eyes show the pain that she’s swirled
through the hand that’s been dealt though it’s quiet as kept
the weight was all felt last night when she slept
and as she crept into the dreams of the things of her past
seems to have grown so fast, way beyond her own class
though they’re right there with her, her brothers and her sisters
a natural born leader even when her peers dis her
my girl, she’s at a crossroads, people praying for her
some are preying on her magazine ads, sex, drama
smoking marijuana, longing for a father to call her, ‘daughter’
she’s part of a generation longing for reconciliation
and this future that they’re facing and this poison that they’re tasting
my girl, I know this love that your chasing

my girl america’s crying when she’s lying on her bed at night
I can see that she’s screaming when she’s dreaming for her freedom
my girl america’s dying while she’s trying just to stop this fight
don’t stop believing, my girl america

boys with hungry eyes have been beating her door
telling her that’s what she’s for, trying to rob at her core
then leave calling her a whore, but still she knows there’s more
I know she knows there’s more because there is a voice she can’t ignore
‘cause it was founded in the foundations, from the day of her creation
in God we trust engraved on the treasures of her nation
and the void that the boys can’t fill
with the tipping of the bottle or the popping of the pill
but still most of her friends don’t care as they glare
ready to drown down the funnel as they frown down the tunnel
they stumble and the tumble breaking down into rubble
my girl america, stop can’t you see
it’s not the circumstances that determine who you’re gonna be
but how you deal with these problems and pains that come your way
it’s for you that I pray with hope for a brighter day
and so I say, your deliverance is coming

my girl america’s crying when she’s lying on her bed at night
I can see that she’s screaming when she’s dreaming for her freedom
my girl america’s dying while she’s trying just to stop this fight
don’t stop believing, my girl america

faith like a child from your first birth
you left it in the dirt on your worst hurt
and I see each tear and every scar
the hands that have held you where you are
and I can see we’ve strayed so far
a king born under that morning star
as a crown of thorns was placed to erase
each tear that’s touched your face
and His palms and sides where pierced with spears
He hung in love just to draw you near
my girl, out of this whole world
can’t you see this is where we started

- By Kerri Pomarolli


As I turned off the nightly news this evening that was flooded with video footage and media frenzy about Paris Hilton’s jail sentence, I was saddened to think that even Christians were joining the frenzy of “Paris Bashing”. We were not even giving her the benefit of the doubt when she claimed to have been exploring her faith in prison. I know we’ve been burned many times by Hollywood types who have lost their stardom and suddenly found” Jesus” and want to make a new start in the Christian market to revitalize their careers. I for one know there aren’t too many card carrying sold out Christians here in Hollywood willing to talk about it. But I was asked to go on CNN news Showbiz tonight and give my thoughts on Paris’s situation. They billed my segment as ”Defending Paris!”
Alas they never make me look popular. Last time I was defending Mel Gibson! But I thought to myself. Isn’t it our job as Christians to believe in Christ’s ability to reach the lost? Does that mean everyone unless you’re rich and pretty and in Hollywood like the Paris Hiltons and Lindsey Lohans that so desperately need Jesus? Everyone seemed to be disregarding the fact that maybe during this time of crisis in Paris’ life she could be so broken that she would see God’s face? It happened to Saul the murderer and countless others. Or what about modern day Christians who didn’t start out that way such as actor Stephen Baldwin who got radically saved a few years ago or what about Mel Gibson who’s taken quite the beating for his beliefs. I think the basic principle of our faith is to believe that God wants everyone to know and love him and eventually have eternal life.
If we’re really Christians, and one of our neighbors on this planet is suffering shouldn’t we be acting differently than the rest of the jaded and skeptical world? Shouldn’t we be shedding a ray of hope and claiming that God can do anything including speaking to the rich and famous out here in “Hollyweird?” Couldn’t there be a lesson we can teach our children in this situation? We have them praying for others far and wide. Why not teach them to pray for people in the news? God wants to save them too. It’s not so far fetched. But I see Christians limiting God and basically shaking their heads at Paris and her special treatment in prison and wanting some sort of “justice”. I do believe she needed to go to jail. Punishment can bring repentance and even conviction. But while she’s in there and when she comes out trying to make a new start, is anyone out there willing to join me in actually doing something edgy such as “Praying for Paris?”

Related Links:

• Pray for Paris!
• Keep Praying for Paris
• On the Hill: God, Paris, and Second Chances

A Krispy Kreme wedding cake, chocolate fountain, celebrity impersonators and a color scheme that screams “MORE IS MORE!”—all the essential elements for the perfect wedding reception. Well, they are if you’re a couple of marrying Christian comedians like Kerri Pomarolli and Ron McGehee. “My side (of the family) is Korean-Irish, hers is Italian-Southern, so it was like a UN meeting with an open bar,” joked McGehee during a recent phone interview with the two-year newlyweds. (No, they’re not two years old themselves, although, they might be willing to admit they act like it at times—“I think we constantly just feel like we’re two little kids living in a grown-up world,” said Pomarolli.) But if you think this couple’s wedding sounds like it was a bit off the wall, their venture into domesticity might raise a few eyebrows as well. Sky Angel viewers will be able to see for themselves how well Pomarolli, 33, and McGehee, 35, tackle such common newlywed challenges as sharing closet space, tolerating each other’s fashion sense (or lack thereof ), and planting a rose bush during the half-hour special “I Love Kerri” airing on Sky Angel.

Read more about it here.

AIR TIMES:
Saturday, June 23, 8pm-8:30pm ET/5pm PT
Angel Two/Sky Angel Channel 9702

On this Father’s day, let’s look at the parable of the prodigal son.

Luke 15:11-32

We learn more about the Father (denoting Father God in this parable) than we do the son.

Note:

God embraces us - filth and all!
What did the prodigal son have to offer? Nothing - but himself.
Did he have to clean himself up first? No.