Boy Scouts of America Hike Membership Fees
Chief Scout executive denies the 60 percent increase in annual membership dues is a sign of fiscal crisis within the Boy Scouts of America
Reporting by WORLD and other news organizations indicate that salaries of senior executives also played a role in the increased costs. According to Reuters, spending on salaries, insurance, and programs by the national headquarters nearly doubled between 2003 and 2012. By 2011, the average compensation of the top five BSA employees had ballooned to $696,862.... Continue Reading
The Modern Worship Music Wars
We have become professional critics of corporate worship. We complain about everything.
We dare not approach the throne of an objectively great, timeless, unchanging, and holy God with a consumer mindset that says we can only worship him if our subjective preferential demands are met. That mindset only robs God of the glory he is due, robs the church of the encouragement it needs as it fights... Continue Reading
4 Principles for the Exercise of Christian Liberty
True Christian liberty, unlike the various “freedom” or “liberation” movements of the secular world, is not a matter of demanding the “rights” we have.
John Calvin puts the point well when he says that we restrain the exercise of our freedom for the sake of weak believers, but not when we are faced with Pharisees who demand that we conform to what is unscriptural. Where the gospel is at stake, liberty needs to be exercised; where the stability of... Continue Reading
The Historical Adam: Why It Really Matters
A core and foundational issue: whether Adam was a real historical individual, created directly by God, from which all human beings descend
If all human beings are not descended from Adam, there is no hope of salvation for them. Christ does not and cannot redeem what he has not assumed. What he has assumed is the human nature of those who bear the image of Adam by natural descent. If there is no redemptive history that is... Continue Reading
Do You Care About The Church Next Door?
The church in South Africa is in a crisis of spiritual decay
The big picture problem is not about Charismatics vs Cessationist or Mainline vs New Networks or Calvinist vs Arminians or those in between – really these divisions are not central to the gospel. Core doctrinal truths like hell, one way to heaven through Jesus and moral behaviour like sexual purity and the sanctity of life... Continue Reading
How Does A Polyamorous Relationship Between Four People Work?
Imagine one house, with four people, but five couples. How does it work?
What is Polyamory? The word entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, where it is defined as: “The fact of having simultaneous close emotional relationships with two or more other individuals, viewed as an alternative to monogamy, esp. in regard to matters of sexual fidelity; the custom or practice of engaging in multiple sexual relationships... Continue Reading
Alamo City Battleground
A proposed non-discrimination policy has made San Antonio, Texas, ‘ground zero’ for gay activists
Advocates say the policy puts San Antonio in line with other major cities in Texas with similar policies, but San Antonio will take it farther: The ordinance changes would prohibit people who have demonstrated bias “in word or deed” toward LGBT individuals from securing business contracts with the city, and anyone in city government could... Continue Reading
Talking Past Each Other on Transformationalism
The Church has a limited mandate; if she is to be all that she should, God's word determines her agenda
The real debate is between those who strongly support the development of genuine Christian vocation but who want to preserve the Church from becoming a mere means to an end and those who see the Church as a way to make this world “a better place for us all.” For that is what cultural transformation theology... Continue Reading
A Thought for Carl Trueman on the Transformational Discussion
Many Christians are skeptical about the transformational vision for culture
The transformational view simply recognizes that God is having his way in the world. That includes both our successes and our failures in our work in culture. Not only does this fact change our definition of success in the culture-war, but also it tells us that we must remain vigilant in the struggle, for how... Continue Reading
They Said He Would Never Learn, Now He’ll Teach Them A Thing Or Two…
His doctors diagnosed ADD and prescribed medical treatment for the boy, but it was wrong
Jake dropped out of elementary school in the 5th grade. His incredible memory allowed him to attend university classes after he learned all of high school math in two weeks. Now he’s on track to graduate from college at age 14 and working on theories to build on Einstein’s theory of relativity. A genius... Continue Reading