Surely we can agree that gun violence is bad and that the church ought to instruct its members to obey the Sixth Commandment. The report, however, goes further to note “the church’s primary calling is to help people prepare for the possibility of a real spiritual awakening that can instigate a social movement.” Is this... Continue Reading

To purely preach the gospel, a minister must preach that sinners are justified by the free grace of God alone, which is received through faith alone, which itself is a gift of God, and that this faith is placed in and rests on nothing except Jesus Christ the Righteous. Churches must see to it, in... Continue Reading

The preaching professor in seminary who assigned the Only One Sermon book was Richard Allen Bodey.  Mr. Bodey was the Bear Bryant of the faculty.  He would have been that on any faculty fortunate enough to have him.  He was that good a teacher—and that scary.  Students who made it through Dick Bodey’s classes were the theological... Continue Reading

The author’s argument is straightforward: 1. Reformed theology, and not Enlightenment philosophy, was pervasive in the colonies, so 2. if Reformed political thought delivers the revolutionary and constitutional goods, we should look to it, and not to the Enlightenment, as the theoretical bedrock for the American founding, and 3. precisely because Reformed political thought does... Continue Reading

The point is that marriage has a higher goal than to make two people happy or even whole. Yes, the investment we make into our marriage pays dividends for us. But…the same investment also has significant implications for our family, our community and eventually our culture….the next time you find yourself dreaming about living significantly... Continue Reading

The truth is that young women are empowered in the Religious Right. They are groomed and they are educated to join the movement against gender equality. Their power can be reduced to their biological functions—in the sense that the core of their fight and causes tend to be focused on pro-life issues and protecting their... Continue Reading

Let’s anticipate the pleasure and challenge of dynamic friendship with him. He is the friend who does not burn out or rust out. He resolutely sings over us: “I speed you; I rest you!” Let’s join him by infusing vigor into our word, “Godspeed,” – a word that – having lain fallow – may now... Continue Reading

But there’s good reason to think Roe itself was instrumental in creating the kind of sexual culture that makes the Bristol Palin dilemma as commonplace as it’s become. While the frequent use of abortion can limit out-of-wedlock births, that is, the sudden mass availability of abortion almost certainly had the opposite effect — mostly by changing the obligations associated with... Continue Reading

A 2008 survey by LifeWay Research found that “unchurched adults”—those who hadn’t attended a church, mosque, or synagogue in the past six months other than for holidays or events—are more turned off to utilitarian buildings. More Americans prefer a medieval cathedral to a contemporary church building…the look of a Gothic cathedral was more likely to... Continue Reading

…churches should work harder to address divorce and childbearing outside of wedlock. “Churches have not done enough to confront the impact of family breakdown on the spiritual lives of young people,” the researchers wrote. “We urge faith leaders to renew family ministries with an eye to all that we are learning about the religious lives... Continue Reading