The Sufficiency of Christ and the Sufficiency of Scripture
Scripture is enough because the work of Christ is enough. They stand or fall together.
The Son’s redemption and the Son’s revelation must both be sufficient. And as such, there is nothing more to be done and nothing more to be known for our salvation and for our Christian walk than what we see and know about Christ and through Christ in his Spirit’s book. Frame is right: “Scripture is... Continue Reading
Lay Aside the Weight of Discontentment
The secret to contentment in “whatever situation” is seeing the Treasure that trumps them all
Sinful discontentment is a weight to lay aside. But you can also think of it as a gauge in your heart that tells you when your spiritual eyes have strayed from the real Prize. When it shows up, stop what you’re doing, look at what you’re looking at, and redirect your mind to the real... Continue Reading
Boring Grace?
A review of Tullian Tchividjian’s One Way Love- Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World
There are doubtless those who live by the law and don’t quite get grace, but is that the world most of the readers of this book inhabit? Maybe it is, but maybe it has just become the accepted norm to repeat that there are lots of people out there drowning in legalism endorsed by... Continue Reading
Hollywood Looks to the Bible for Screenplay Potential
Independent films have dealt with the Bible in the past, but it’s significant that major Hollywood studios are taking this up
Taking a cue from Gibson’s success with “The Passion,” film marketing campaigns now go after pastors’ endorsements through special advance screenings to secure endorsements from big-name religious leaders. As more people are sitting in front of the TV on a Sunday morning rather than in church, “filmmakers are the new high priests of our culture,”... Continue Reading
What Will Happen To Afghan Women When The Taliban Returns?
Will a resurgent Taliban return women to wearing burqas, withdraw them from schools, and force them to live behind painted glass in their homes?
Mavis Leno (wife of The Tonight Show’s Jay Leno) chairs a committee of the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) on Afghan women and girls. In a telephone interview, she told me she is “worried sick” about diplomatic negotiations with the Afghan government and fears the Taliban could again leave women at a disadvantage: “Women are last in... Continue Reading
Adultery: Divorce or Rebuild
Once the affair has come to light, both spouses have a choice to make
A second reason to make every effort to help the couple rebuild their marriage has to do with the future quality of the relationship. Even those not writing from a Christian worldview say that while the memory of the unfaithfulness never goes away, it often becomes a catalyst for the marriage to become more honest... Continue Reading
Youth Groups Driving Christian Teens to Abandon Faith
A new study might reveal why a majority of Christian teens abandon their faith upon high school graduation
“It’s time for the Christian father to take the central role which God has ordained,” McManus concludes. “Gathered around the dining room table, the father needs to lead family worship once again, which had been standard behavior for a vibrant American Christian family for hundreds of years, dating back to the Plymouth, Mass., colony of 1620. Dad... Continue Reading
Why Not Lutheranism?
Why Calvinism – why not Lutheranism?
So why would Baptists like Mohler and Moore today find Calvinism to be a brand of Protestantism worthy of emulation? Why do we hear about Protestants like John Piper, the famous pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, being called a Calvinist or Reformed Baptist? Why not a Lutheran Baptist? Why is the former unexceptional... Continue Reading
Charles Spurgeon: The Heart of a Soul-Winner
Never has one man stood in one pulpit, week after week, year after year, for almost four decades, and preached the gospel with greater worldwide success and lasting impact than Spurgeon
Throughout his prolific ministry, Spurgeon was consumed with a gospel zeal. He made it his practice to isolate one or a few verses as a springboard to proclaim the gospel. He asserted, “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.” Every time Spurgeon stepped into the pulpit, he set his gaze intently... Continue Reading
Episcopal Church Down 24% in Ten Years
Baptized membership in the Episcopal Church of the USA declined by 29,679 in 2012 to 2,066,710
In 2002 the Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) for the domestic dioceses of the Episcopal Church was 846,640. In 2012 the domestic ASA was 640,142; a decline of 206,498 or 24 per cent over ten years. The 2012 totals do not account for the session of the Diocese of South Carolina, which would subtract an estimated... Continue Reading