January 31, 2008 • 8:56 am 2
Thomas Watson, the English Puritan who lived from 1620-1686, wrote an excellent piece on Degrees of Sin. This is an important contribution in our discussion on another post about Emergents Supporting Obama.
Here is the substance of one of my comments on that post: Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Abortion, Culture, Emerging Church, Government, Politics, Sin, Theology
• 6:29 am 1
Marvin Olasky has written an excellent article at Townhall.com on one way to bring the gospel and physical relief to Africa. The model he cites works without government money, which usually gets sucked away in various bureaucracy and theft. Olasky writes in part:
I’ve seen a variety of orphanages in Africa and elsewhere, and this model is the best. It could be replicated throughout sub-Saharan Africa. And it could be done without government money, which often hampers rather than helps. Schwartz’s goal is one church, one cottage, including financial and prayer support. He would like to see a team from a supporting church take a mission trip every 12 to 18 months to visit the children and develop relationships with them. He challenges Americans who have already attained wealth: “Don’t think of what kind of home entertainment system or which set of golf clubs to buy. Think of lives that could be changed for the better.”
Read the entire article here.
Filed under: Christianity, Missions
January 29, 2008 • 12:51 am 2
Dear Christian Friend,
I hear talk of some Christians thinking about supporting Barack Obama. Really? Do yourself (and the rest of us) a favor. Read about the man and what he stands for. Human Events has compiled a shocking series of articles which you need to read. Here it is…
Filed under: Politics
January 28, 2008 • 11:32 pm 0
Two of my friends have recently posted on this subject here and here. My previous post on the subject is here. I would like to offer a link to a very useful perspective on helping the poor.
The late Greg Bahnsen wrote on the subject in a paper titled Helping the Poor Without Feeding the Beast. His closing paragraph is:
We conclude, then, that Dr. Sider’s advocating of state-enforced, preferential economic policies for the poor overturns the distinction between grace and justice, Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Christianity, Church, Culture, Politics
• 5:24 pm 0
As a Republican, I just love seeing the inevitable collision with a brick wall the race and gender baiters find themselves hitting.
If you take the ideas of folks like the Clintons, so-called black leaders and the NOW gang to their logical conclusions there is a huge head banging brick wall waiting on them. For years now, the Clintons (and most Dems) have attempted Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Politics
• 3:56 pm 3
A news article found at Modern Reformation stated in part:
Football fans who happen to be churchgoers might be in trouble again this year if they choose to attend a Super Bowl party at their usual place of worship.
According to Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the National Football League, the law that prohibits congregations from viewing the biggest game of the year on large TV screens still stands.
“It’s not a church issue, it’s a copyright issue,” McCarthy says.
Prohibiting churches from showing the Feb. 3 game on TV screens larger than 55 inches is the way the NFL protects the network that paid to broadcast the game, McCarthy said. Large Super Bowl gatherings — whether they happen at churches or theaters — erode TV ratings and thus could impact lucrative advertising revenues.
Is your church breaking the civil law? The full article may be found here.
January 27, 2008 • 7:26 am 0
We studied this topic Saturday evening in our FLOCK group. Our discussion was lively and edifying. One of the upshots of looking at spiritual gifts was the consensus that many people often say they just don’t know what their spiritual gift is. “How can I know?”, they ask.
The late James Boice, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philly, has some wise advice. He writes at the conclusion of an article on Spiritual Gifts:
Finding Your Gift
At this point someone may be saying, “I recognize the importance of spiritual gifts and am aware now of what they are. Still I am puzzled because I do not know where I fit into the picture. How can I discover what my gifts are?” Read the rest of this entry »
January 25, 2008 • 4:18 pm 0
We keep you up to date…
U2 frontman BONO has compared environmental campaigner AL GORE to an Irish priest to whom he can confess his ecological sins. The With Or Without You hitmaker shared the stage with the former U.S. vice president at a conference in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday (24Jan08) – Bono was there to promote his campaign to alleviate world poverty, while Gore was Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Bad Science, Bad Theology, Culture, Funny, Global Alarming, Global Warming, Politics
• 11:58 am 0
Barack Obama was recently interviewed by Christianity Today. Here is a Q/A on abortion. After you read this excerpt, read on to see the Q/A re-written, hypothetically.
For many evangelicals, abortion is a key, if not the key factor in their vote. You voted against banning partial birth abortion and voted against notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. What role do you think the President should play in creating national abortion policies?
I don’t know anybody who is pro-abortion. I think it’s very important Read the rest of this entry »
• 11:33 am 3
Did anyone else see this? I confess I do not normally read the St. Louis “newspaper” called The St. Louis Post Distress. Apparently our MO tax dollars will be paying for inmates’, female of course, travel expenses so they can have abortions! Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Abortion, Government
• 5:43 pm 0
Last week I posted from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’s blog part 1 of a series on the subject. Here are links to parts 2, 3 & 4 (scroll down for #4).
At each step we have concluded that in the context of the verses above Paul used the word kephale to most likely mean “have authority over.” It is extremely unlikely or impossible that the author intended this word to mean that Christ is the “source without authority” of the Church and a husband is the “source without authority” of his wife.
Filed under: Ecclesiology, Leadership, Men & Women
• 9:34 am 0
In some ways, we are. For example, we both affirm that Jesus is the Messiah, that He rose from the dead and that faith in Christ is necessary for salvation, though RCs add works to faith. In other words, RCs will affirm that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. What the church will not affirm is that salvation is by grace ALONE through faith ALONE in Christ ALONE.
As J. Gresham Machen pointed out so well years ago, this one area where we differ (and there are many others) is critical and indeed spiritually fatal to the Roman Catholic. Read his take on The Apostle Paul’s teaching in Galatians. It is the one main area which keeps a huge gulf between Protestants and Roman Catholics. In fact unless Rome Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Apologetics, Catholicism, Christianity
January 21, 2008 • 12:55 pm 1
…before Big Brother does! Did you catch this on the news? In California, a proposal was floated which would allow the government to control thermostats in people’s homes. Combat global warming, they said. Thankfully it was roundly tabled after an enormous outcry. But, Kevin James at Townhall.com thinks this is just the tip of the iceberg (pun intended) for the global alarming crowd, led by the Democrats. He writes:
The Democrats (a.k.a. global warming wimps) have found the rhetorical weapon they will use for at least the next decade to Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Bad Science, Global Alarming, Global Warming
January 19, 2008 • 8:07 am 0
Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia 200 years ago today (January 19, 1807). Americans should be honoring this man, though many if not most, don’t even know who he was.
Paul Greenberg has written a very interesting article on Townhall.com called Lee and the Lingering South. One excerpt,
Lee is present still, but not in the way other historical figures are. The mention of his name inevitably elevates, shaming his critics, calming his admirers, reminding all of what is truly important. Not victory or defeat but honor.
Filed under: History, Leadership
January 18, 2008 • 8:21 am 4
The Wall Street Journal has an article dated January 18, 2008 with that title. The article subtitle is, “Reviving an ancient practice, churches are exposing sinners and shunning those who won’t repent.”
Here are several quotes:
On a quiet Sunday morning in June, as worshippers settled into the pews at Allen Baptist Church in southwestern Michigan, Pastor Jason Burrick grabbed his cellphone and dialed 911. When a dispatcher answered, the preacher said a former congregant was in the sanctuary. “And we need to, um, have her out A.S.A.P.”
Half an hour later, 71-year-old Karolyn Caskey, a church member for nearly 50 years who had taught Sunday school and regularly donated 10% of her pension, was led out by a state trooper and a county sheriff’s officer. One held her purse and Bible. The other put her in handcuffs.
The article goes on to say Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Christianity, Ecclesiology, Evangelicals
January 16, 2008 • 10:55 am 0
If you are at all interested in discussing the abortion issue, pro-choice or pro-life, follow the link for an interesting post titled The Complexity of Roe vs. Wade. Stephanie Vander Lugt hosts the blog.
January 15, 2008 • 3:26 pm 0
I don’t have much time right now but wanted to get this up so you could read it.
Part I of a series on Headship has been posted over at the Center for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Here is a brief excerpt:
For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, … Ephesians 5:23-25
From a simple reading of the text in English, it is clear that husbands are to sacrificially love their wives in imitation of the Savior, and wives are to submit to their husbands as the church submits to the Savior. Christ is the head of the church and the husband is the head of his wife.
Of course, Paul originally wrote this verse in common Greek and used the word kephale for “head.” Many egalitarians have argued Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Ecclesiology, Leadership, Men & Women
January 13, 2008 • 11:21 am 1
Dr. Anthony Bradley, professor at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, has written an article titled Why Guys Leave the Church over at World on the Web. He says in part,
This [the observation that much of what happens in the contemporary church is geared toward women] is most obvious in the “contemporary” music played in many churches today which are nothing more than prom songs and love ballads with “Jesus” inserted in lyrics instead of “baby” or “my darling”. Here’s are lyrics from the praise band Underoath:
Oh sweet angel of mercy
With your grace like the morning
Wrap your loving arms around me
Oh sweet angel of mercy
With your grace like the morning
Wrap your loving arms around me
I think he is on to something. Read the article here.
Filed under: Men & Women
January 12, 2008 • 6:42 am 0
It is no secret to those who know me that books by and about Teddy Roosevelt are among my favorites. A few titles are listed on my Good Reading tab at the top of this blog.
The River of Doubt is my newest TR book. I am really enjoying this book. Read below from the Washington Post about this magnificent tome:
Just try to imagine it: George W. Bush loses re-election by a landslide and, undeterred by the humiliation of it all, sets off on a journey of unspeakable danger and hardship into the darkest depths of the Amazon jungle. There would be a media circus the likes of which the world has never seen. Picture the TV crews following in his wake, tripping over chemical toilets, generators and satellite phones. In these times of media gurus and spin-doctoring, we would write off the expedition as a stunt, a way of stealing the limelight from his rival’s victory.
Rewind almost a century, to November 1912. Theodore Roosevelt, one of the most popular presidents in American history, is crushed at the polls Read the rest of this entry »
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