Sanctification, Homosexuality, and the Church
The “Jesus + Nothing = Everything” approach to sanctification is error of such prodigious import that it threatens the very essence of the Christian church
But those churches who would accept sinners “as they are” (whether homosexuals or any other variety of sinner) into their memberships, and who would encourage such sinners to ponder the glories of justification rather than repent, engage in a great evil. Such acceptance violates this and every biblical text on church discipline, destroys the purity... Continue Reading
Mark Driscoll, Tribalism, and the Church
We need pastors and churches that preach the gospel, not "tribal leaders" and Twitter accounts
I find this distasteful. The church is the body of Christ. From the church’s institution, the office of pastor has been of central importance. Christianity has its own traditions, language, and culture. Why would Driscoll jettison those things in favor of trendy jargon? Tribes and tribal chiefs. Sounds decidedly pagan to me. I don’t... Continue Reading
Are the Metro Evangelicals Right?
Metro-Evangelicals have developed a kind of “theology of the city” that roots city-centric strategy in biblical proof-texts
Of course, God blessed Paul’s urban strategy to build the church, but I’m not sure metro-evangelicals are gathering the right lesson from this history. It is true that Paul avoided the countryside for the most part, but not because he expected to find more open-minded folks in the cities. ‘Cause that isn’t what he found.... Continue Reading
The Church Should Be A Taboo Free Zone
If someone confesses a sin or struggle to you, don’t be shocked.
There are certain things we don’t talk about much in church. Like eating disorders. Or cutting. Or depression. Or same sex attraction. Or sexual enslavement. The list could go on, but you get my point. The reason we don’t talk about these things is because, frankly, they make us uncomfortable. If we struggle with a... Continue Reading
Court Rules Against German Homeschool Family Seeking Asylum
The Justice Dept. is arguing that German law banning home schooling does not violate the family’s human rights.
Uwe said he was extremely disappointed that their petition to seek asylum was appealed by the Obama administration. “If we go back to Germany we know that we would be prosecuted and it is very likely the Social Services authorities would take our children from us,” he said. Uwe said German schools were teaching children... Continue Reading
Tenth Presbyterian: A Philadelphia and Theological Fixture
Tenth remains content to follow the confessional standards of the Reformation - the Westminster Confession and Catechisms in particular - and let the chips fall where they may
He once told me that he found Christmas and Easter services the least effective, relative to ordinary Sundays – and Sunday-evening services perhaps most effective – in mediating redemptive grace. Indeed, his ministry confirms the observation of British historian Herbert Butterfield that “the church has best served civilization not on the occasion when it had... Continue Reading
A Nation of Wimps
Parents are going to ludicrous lengths to take the bumps out of life for their children. Parental hyperconcern has the net effect of making kids more fragile; that may be why they're breaking down in record numbers.
In changing the nature of childhood, Stearns argues, we’ve introduced a tendency to assume that children can’t handle difficult situations. “Middle-class parents especially assume that if kids start getting into difficulty they need to rush in and do it for them, rather than let them flounder a bit and learn from it. I don’t mean... Continue Reading
Evil, Evil, Everywhere
I’ve found that my students — often steeped in relativism — have to be prodded to consider “evil”
Most students then agree that those things are evil, if by evil we simply mean profoundly immoral….What about Jim Crow, for instance? I encourage them to forget about the United States. Regardless of whether the United States was/is just as evil or less evil or pretty good, was Soviet tyranny evil? I do this exercise... Continue Reading
The Sexual Secularization of Our Society
Intellectual and sexual rebellion rages on in our day, but the final epitaph has not yet been written
There are thus only two ultimate alternatives: either the thinker, activist, or leader can subject sexual desire to truth or he will subjugate truth to sexual desire. If a person is dominated by desire, i.e., Eros, then that desire will be the surest explicator of his thought. The turning away of the mind from truth... Continue Reading
Thank You North Park Presbyterian Church (PCA), Jackson, MS
Thanking a church with a rich heritage as it closes
North Park Presbyterian church of Jackson, MS, has always loved us and cared for us well. Even greater was their love for Christ and their desire to see His church spread to all corners of the earth. Their zeal for global missions was evident when their doors were open, and it will continue to be... Continue Reading