A Christian baker refuses to make cake for same-sex wedding – faces charges
Does the right to freedom of religion trump the Oregon Equality Act ?
The Oregon Department of Justice is investigating a complaint against a Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. Here’s what happened in a nutshell. A woman and her daughter came into Aaron Klein’s store requesting a wedding cake. When they told Klein that the cake was for a wedding... Continue Reading
Why Rosa Parks (Still) Matters
Her heroism still speaks, and points to some old, old truths that are needed in a new century
The bus boycott, sparked by her, was a revolt against an unjust law. Mrs. Parks, and the activists she motivated, never argued the law wasn’t supported by the majority. They argued the law was wrong. As Martin Luther King Jr. also communicated in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” civil law rests on a broader... Continue Reading
Reviewing ‘Fresh Perspectives on Women in Ministry’ from Keller, Bird, and Dickson
Three different views on how women should participate in ministry
However, Kathy Keller, wife to Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City, has moved from an egalitarian position to a complementarian one. Keller sought ordination in the PCUSA before questioning and then abandoning her egalitarian views. Interestingly, she is the only one of the three comfortable with being labeled a... Continue Reading
Seminary Students: Love People not Papers? Or, Love People AND Papers?
God calls us to love him with our heart and our mind; we should call our future ministers to do both
Unfortunately, many young pastors head into ministry with the perception that if they just give themselves to their congregations—if they are just personal and loving—then they will succeed in ministry. But, they soon realize that they are not enough to satisfy the church. The church needs more than the pastor can give. And inevitably they... Continue Reading
Five Things Evangelicals Need to Face the Next 10 Years
The sky isn't falling for evangelicals, but we do have reason to look in the mirror
However, I do think we are in challenging times. The last ten years have brought us to that reality. There have been a few distractions along the way. The emerging church came promising answers to evangelicals for a “third way,” but now is largely the avant-garde wing of (declining) mainline Protestantism. Some tried to withdraw... Continue Reading
Brothers, We Are Not Witchdoctors
We are not, in ourselves, the vehicle of God’s grace and kingdom-building
Brothers, we are not witchdoctors. I say that because several years ago I heard a pastor say, “I feel like a witchdoctor because I come to people’s situations of crisis, I pray over them, and I do the things I am supposed to do and go and visit them and stand up and preach my... Continue Reading
Prizes and Consumables: The Super Bowl as a Theology of Women
The way we consume iconic national events like the Super Bowl better depicts what we really believe about women than does anything else.
Women are depicted in the Super Bowl and other televised mega-sports in ways that proclaim, “This world is for men, about men, and because of men. You women may participate, but only in forms that are pleasing to men.” Keep reading and you’ll understand why sociologists aren’t invited to many parties. I’m a sociologist—we’re... Continue Reading
Shane Hipps’s Mystic Jesus
"Just because Christianity claims Jesus as its own does not mean that Christ automatically claims Christianity as his own."
Although Shane Hipps, a former teaching pastor at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids calls himself a Christian, he is not convinced that makes him “any closer to Jesus than a Muslim.” He explained this view to Relevant Magazine in January 2013 as he discussed his new book, Selling Water by the River a Book... Continue Reading
No Compromise: 2013 National Conference Preview
R.C. Sproul and Robert Godfrey
In only a few weeks thousands will gather in Orlando for our 2013 National Conference. These three days will be a call to stand with conviction, not bending with the winds of relativism and faithlessness. Over the coming weeks we will be giving you a preview of who will be teaching and what they’ll be... Continue Reading
Why Extroverts Fail, Introverts Flounder and You Probably Succeed
What kind of personality makes the best salesperson —and presumably, the most effective leader, extroverts or introverts?
The good news, then, is that in some sense we are all born to sell and equipped to lead. And that means a hidden but urgent challenge for organizations of every kind is to shatter the stereotype of who’s an effective leader. When we choose leaders, as when hiring managers choose salespeople, we’re understandably drawn... Continue Reading