Clarifying Inclusivism and Exclusivism
In arguing for exclusivism as opposed to inclusivism, I should be clear what I am not saying.
I am not saying there is nothing decent or honorable in other religions or in people from other religions. Ultimately, there is no good deed apart from faith, but Christians should recognize that Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus (and secular atheists for that matter) can be charitable, honest, and kind. Exclusivism does not demand that we reject... Continue Reading
Totes Magotes
Is the age of the blog over?
Kottke claims that “In 1997, wired teens created online diaries, and in 2004 the blog was king. Today, teens are about as likely to start a blog (over Instagramming or Snapchatting) as they are to buy a music CD.” And there you have it. Teens determine the meaningful paths to communication. Actually, as you see... Continue Reading
Keith Getty Criticizes Contemporary Worship Music
Modern churches should stop mimicking mainstream trends with their praise music
To be relevant to the future we have to know our history. Part of the reason the entire modern church music movement is so vacuous is that it ignores the entirety of church history. We can be naïve and we don’t always know what to do with music. Today it’s become a way of getting... Continue Reading
Trading One Dramatic Resolution for 10,000 Little Ones
Biblical Christianity simply doesn’t rest its hope in big, dramatic moments of change.
The little moments of life are profoundly important precisely because they are the little moments that we live in and that form us. This is where I think “Big Drama Christianity” gets us into trouble. It can cause us to devalue the significance of the little moments of life and the “small-change” grace that meets... Continue Reading
The Winter of Christian Discontent in The Arab World
Too many "well-meaning" individuals and groups have swallowed the fallacious Palestinian Narrative of Victimhood in the Middle East
Persecution of Christians in the Islamic Middle East has intensified in recent years, and the fear now is that Christianity may be becoming extinct in the area where it has existed for two millennia. They are criticized, absurdly, as Crusaders, or as colonialists associated with the West, or as infidels. The exception, and the only... Continue Reading
Congress Strengthens Religious Freedom For The Military
The Senate passed a defense bill that includes important language to strengthen and protect the religious freedom of military members and chaplains.
The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes the standard provisions for funding the military as well as amendments that expand the protection of military members’ religious freedoms, including their personal beliefs, actions, and speech. Specific language in the NDAA protects the freedom of military chaplains to “close a prayer outside of a religious service... Continue Reading
“The Lord Says… Kill Them All…Their Children And Infants;” My Unusual Reaction To 1 Samuel 15
How can a good and loving God order the death of children and infants for evil done by their parents or grandparents?
But I realized today that if my first response is not wonder, awe, humility — if these texts do not lead me to meditation or devotion but rather to apologetics, if they lead me to defend God rather than trust Him, then I’m committing the same kind of idolatry that the skeptic does when he... Continue Reading
Wanted: The Perfect Pastor
If we put together a composite of the perfect pastor; what would he look like?
Although we’ll never be all this and we’ll never find all this in any mere man, it’s still a great ideal for pastors and those who train them to aim at. And it’s a reminder of the only Perfect Pastor, who was more than a mere man, and who surpassed all expectations in every part... Continue Reading
Dealing with Demons
We don't typically enjoy the privilege of seeing when and how God is acting in the supernatural world. But this time, we did!
What we experienced was “normal” for our context, and many other missionaries can testify to similar kinds of things. I call these sorts of scare tactics “demonic bullying.” In a place where the number of Christians is less than 1 percent and the rest of the population is consciously or unconsciously worshiping the enemy, this... Continue Reading
I Can’t Explain Why We Shouldn’t Murder Disabled Children
If you don’t understand, I can’t make you. All I can do is pray for your soul.
If it isn’t wrong to kill children, then it can not be wrong to do anything else. Literally anything else. Slavery? Genocide? How can they be condemned? Of what sort of moral standard have they fallen short? If the bar has sunken low enough so that infanticide can leap above it, then I doubt that... Continue Reading