The Texas Cheerleaders’ Massacre (of the Bible)
Twisting Scripture and trivializing its true meaning
However, whatever we think of the ruling as law, we ought to be embarrassed by the cheerleaders’ banners. To say they have used these verses without regard to the original context and intent is an understatement and exercise of restraint on my part. To say that they have at best trivialized and at worst blasphemed... Continue Reading
How Southern Baptists Should Approach Disagreements in Theology
My goal in this article is to help Southern Baptists think productively about the Calvinism controversy and other theological controversies in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Is Calvinism outside of the Baptist Faith and Message? Clearly, it is not. The Baptist Faith and Message comes from a line of Calvinist confessions, rooted in the Second London Baptist Confession and the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is our theological history as Southern Baptists. Our confession has been modified over the years to... Continue Reading
The Pentagon’s Problem With Proselytizing
Evangelicals lately have detected worrying signals from the military
So is the case about Pentagon policy closed? Not at all, say some religious-liberty advocates. For one thing, the Pentagon statement clarifying that military personnel would not be court-martialed if they “evangelize” also said that “proselytization” is considered a Uniform Code of Military Justice offense. Yet the definitions of those two words are almost identical:... Continue Reading
Tunnel Vision: The Personal Purgatory of Kevin Tunell
A tunnel vision that focuses on sin with no relief of basking in mercy will leave us in despair
Suzan’s parents offered to settle for a mere $936 [down from $1,500,000], on one condition: that Kevin pay the amount by sending them a check for $1, made out to the deceased Suzan Herzog, every Friday for the next eighteen years—one for every year Suzan had been alive. The penalty seemed like he had been... Continue Reading
Tornadoes, Tsunamis, and the Mystery of Suffering and Sovereignty
Thoughts on the Oklahoma tornado
Great natural disasters such as this tell us nothing about the comparative sinfulness of those who are its victims. Please do not conclude that the residents of Moore, Oklahoma, are more sinful than any other city that has not as yet experienced such devastation. Please do not conclude that we are more righteous than they... Continue Reading
Divorce, Remarriage, and Abuse
Part 3 of the review of Pastor Jeff Crippen's book, A Cry for Justice
In the case of abuse in marriage, the abuse victim is not the one destroying the marriage when he or she decides the marriage contract has been rendered null and void. That has already been accomplished by the abuser who has refused to love, honor, and cherish as he vowed before God to do. The... Continue Reading
The “Why” Behind the IRS Scandal
The Agency’s decisions to pursue individual organizations that oppose the administration’s public policies, is legally, morally, politically and ethically unacceptable. Perhaps more simply, however, it is linguistically unacceptable. Where Bob Jones lost its tax exemption for running afoul of “established public policy,” the IRS is targeting groups that disagree with the “administration’s public policies.” ... Continue Reading
Tragic Worship
A church with a less realistic view of life than one can find in a movie theater?
Bonhoeffer once asked, “Why did it come about that the cinema really is often more interesting, more exciting, more human and gripping than the church?” Why, indeed. Maybe the situation is even worse than I have described; perhaps the churches are even more trivial than the entertainment industry. After all, in popular entertainment one does... Continue Reading
The Boy Scouts of America and “The Fork in the Road”
The result is the BSA has come to a “fork in the road” and will have to “take it” in a vote by its General Council this week.
But at the moment it is the BSA which is at a “fork in the road” and you must “take it.” The path of “principled leadership” promises not only to maintain a marvelous legacy but actually build on it with that glorious leadership attribute of moral courage even in the face of an assured response... Continue Reading
Speaking Terms: Witnessing and the Military
What happens to free speech in a regulatory era?
What’s so ironically outrageous about the bureaucrats’ suggested restrictions on free speech among military personnel is that anyone anywhere even thinks about imposing such limits on the very uniformed people who have pledged their lives to protecting our freedoms. We should be ashamed to let such thoughts cross our minds. Not sure what all the... Continue Reading