Speedos or Shorts? Bikinis or Bathing Suits?
Two things in the last week have brought to my attention that those who wish to maintain anything approaching traditional Christian standards are facing a brave new world.
Religious and social conservatives, and even traditional liberals, may well have disagreed over the years about what constitutes modesty (Speedos or shorts? Bikinis or bathing suits?) but they have typically accepted that the concept itself is legitimate and appropriate. In a world where Reichian quackery rules, we do not debate the limits of modesty for... Continue Reading
The Essence of Faith: Neither Obedience Nor Love
In Reformed theology when we talk about the essence of justifying faith, we exclude love and obedience.
In other words, love and works are not the same as justifying faith; love and works are not the essence of faith. The sinner is not justified by faithful obedience, or by faith working through love, but by faith alone, only, period. True faith always results in love and good works, but love and good... Continue Reading
A Prayer for When Life is Disappointing
Disappointment is part of life in this fallen world. Things don't work the way they are supposed to.
God is preparing us now, in this life, for eternity. He uses our struggles and challenges to sanctify us and make us holy. He is making us increasingly more like Christ by stripping away the layers of sin and removing the counterfeit loves in our heart. So when disappointments come, we can ask ourselves, “What... Continue Reading
Joyful Noise: Praise with the Volume Pumped Up
There is something that generates an impact that reverberates through this world, the spiritual realm, and the Universe: a joyful church.
This is the reason we worship: he deserves it. God is good, loving, and faithful. This is why we sing, this is why we make a loud noise – because he is worthy of worship. We can worship him sincerely because he is indisputably worthy of our worship. Only in heaven we will grasp fully... Continue Reading
The Impact of Calvinism on Culture
First, what is “culture”? Second, what is “Calvinism”? Third, what is “impact”?
“First, for the purposes of this series, we will limit the word ‘culture’ to six particular areas: education, politics, economics, marriage/the family, the law, and the arts. As we shall see, Calvinism has had a significant impact on these central components of Western culture, and consequently on American culture.” Over the next few weeks,... Continue Reading
The Fingerprints of God
Lost in the revolving news cycles of the last few weeks was a finding that has rocked the scientific world.
In a paper published in the open-access journal eLife, researchers say they have pinpointed the single mutation that allowed our ancient protozoa predecessors to evolve into complex, multi-cellular organisms. “Incredibly, in the world of evolutionary biology, all it took was one tiny tweak, one gene, and complex life as we know it was born.” As... Continue Reading
What a Super Bowl Ad Reveals About Our Abortion Culture
Social media lit up during this year’s Super Bowl over the abortion lobby’s outrage about a chip commercial; “humanizing fetuses.”
We cannot “humanize” what is already human, but we can certainly dehumanize the humanity around, or within, us. The abortion lobby wants the “fetus” to be thought of only in clinical language, as though he or she were merely an “it,” tissue to be disposed of. Those who oppress the poor want them to be... Continue Reading
Top Generals: Women Should Register For the Draft
Top Army and Marine generals testified that women should be required to register for the draft now that the Pentagon has lifted exemptions for women from ground combat.
The Selective Service question came during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee about how the services would begin to integrate women into combat units and training programs for combat-related jobs. The sometimes contentious hearing also exposed the reluctance of Marine Corps leaders to bring women into certain demanding infantry, armor, and special operations... Continue Reading
You Are Not Drafting My Daughter Into the Military!
The gospel of humanistic egalitarianism has replaced the gospel of Jesus Christ as the source of truth in America.
As a Christian I beg to differ on both counts. With regard to gender, God created them both male and female. The female is called the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7). This has implications for all areas of life, especially the military where physical strength is a priority. Hey, Uncle Sam, you are not drafting... Continue Reading
I Don’t Mind 3 AM Starts… Just Don’t Ask Me To Work On A Sunday! New Face Of BBC Breakfast Is A Devout Christian Who Always Keeps The Sabbath
Dan Walker, famous for presenting football shows, will be the new face of BBC morning TV; he struck a deal with BBC that he would never work on Sundays
At first, Walker’s refusal to work on Sundays made it tough to find a job as a football presenter. Some interviewers thought he was stupid, and others felt sorry for him, he admits. But he persevered and was eventually hired by the BBC. Since 2009, the 6ft 6in married father of three has become familiar... Continue Reading