A Baptism, Then a Murder Confession
Texas woman gave her life to Christ, owned up to a slaying — and got a life sentence.
“I don’t deserve to have a second chance really,” said Lucinda Wilson, an ordinary-looking woman — except for her white prison jumpsuit — with long, brown hair pulled behind her head. “I just want to try and do as much as I can to bring the Lord the glory he deserves because it’s not about me,”... Continue Reading
LifeWay Research: Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don’t Actually Read It
Overall, Americans seem to like the Bible but don’t have much urgency about reading it.
LifeWay Research surveyed 1,000 Americans about their views of the Bible and found significant splits in how familiar they are with the Christian scripture. One in five Americans, LifeWay Research found, has read through the Bible at least once. That includes 11 percent who’ve read the entire Bible once, and 9 percent who’ve read it... Continue Reading
The New Definitive Book on the Great Awakening in New England
Winiarski emphasizes the novelty of George Whitefield’s teachings and the “Whitefieldarian” tactics that drove the awakening.
Winiarski suggests that New England Congregationalist churches were dominated by the beliefs and practices of the “godly walkers.” They would have of course emphasized the need for God’s grace and the power of God in regenerating sinners, but in practice they heavily emphasized religious duty and longtime holiness as the signs of saving faith. ... Continue Reading
What Can the Church Learn about Sexual Harassment, Accusations, & Transparency from the Bill O’Reilly Debacle?
Powerful men, with organizations tending to cover things up, are a recipe for disaster.
When accusations are made, we need to take them seriously. And we need to respond in a way that affirms the value of women in our personal and organizational lives. There is a middle ground between unchecked acceptance of an accusation and unchecked dismissal. It’s called investigation. The explosive controversy surrounding Bill O’Reilly has... Continue Reading
A Match Made in Heaven
Why conservative evangelicals have lined up behind Trump
Evangelicals in the early republic nurtured a deep suspicion of an encroaching federal government, and many were happy to collaborate with heterodox politicians who felt the same way. Thomas Jefferson may have taken a razor to his personal copy of the Gospels, excising the tales of miracles, but he had friends among the Baptists, who... Continue Reading
Does Religion Kill Democracy?
Many try to explain the democratic deficit, and the role religion plays in it, through extensive empirical study and statistical analysis.
Material well-being is much more widespread than it was in the 1830s (rampant allegations of inequality notwithstanding), but it does not seem as though happiness and spiritual fulfillment are equally ubiquitous. It is not clear that in America democracy has been sufficiently ennobled. The greater question, which Owen poses through Tocqueville, is whether it is... Continue Reading
Don’t George Muller Me: A Missionary’s Plea for Understanding
Many greatly admire Muller and urge all missionaries to live by his private standards.
Muller’s conviction was that he ought not to have a fixed salary, nor should he ever communicate his financial needs. My conviction is that missionaries, unless specifically and powerfully called otherwise, should strive for a predictable and relatively consistent rate of support. This includes striving for clear, direct, and frequent communications about all pertinent matters... Continue Reading
TULIP and Reformed Theology: Irresistible Grace
God, and God alone, has the power to change the disposition of the soul and the human heart to bring us to faith.
If, indeed, we are dead in sins and trespasses, if, indeed, our wills are held captive by the lusts of our flesh and we need to be liberated from our flesh in order to be saved, then in the final analysis, salvation must be something that God does in us and for us, not something... Continue Reading
Why the Lord’s Prayer Is So Offensive
Anyone who thinks that isn’t offensive simply hasn’t been paying attention.
The Lord’s Prayer is not mild, inoffensive, vanilla, listless, nominal, wishy-washy, or wallpapery. If you don’t worship the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is deeply subversive, upsetting, and offensive—from the first phrase to the last. Several months ago there was a kerfuffle over an advertisement in which the Lord’s Prayer is prayed by... Continue Reading
“The Bible Answer Man” Turns East: An Unlikely Conversion
Eastern Orthodoxy accepts tradition (though not the authority of the pope) as an equal source of revelation along with the Scriptures.
In an interview, Hank Hanegraaff has said “Nothing has changed in my faith.” But it appears that he will have to broaden his source of authority beyond the Scriptures as he answers the questions of his listeners. We hope he reconsiders his decision and realizes that he has chosen a path that has misled many. ... Continue Reading