It’s All About Tolerance
What, precisely, do we mean by tolerance?
In other words, I can hold to the value that other people have a right to their beliefs, without believing that all points of view are equally valid. Or be compelled to uphold the pursuit of such beliefs.
North Korea Lite
Thoughts on the Olympics’ opening ceremony
A specter now haunts the London Olympics: that of public indifference, bought at the cost of billions that future generations will struggle to repay.
Marine Gunnery Sgt., member of URC in Escondido, CA, killed in Afghanistan
Assigned to Special Operations Battalion at Camp
Ruth and Karl Price said their son put God first, was unassuming and shied away from praises like being called a "hero."
Modesty: Legalism, Antinomianism, or Obedience?
A continuing discussion on the boundaries of modesty
If we’re motivated to modesty by a concern for God’s glory, our witness, and love for the souls of our fellow men, we’ll wear clothes that free us to live out kingdom lives in a fallen world. Fear of legalism is just as big an issue as fear of antinomianism – both are antithetical to... Continue Reading
Muslims Have Their Scarves, Christians Their Sandwiches
All of a sudden, biting into a fried chicken sandwich has become a political statement
Matthew Lee Anderson distinguishes “tolerant” (i.e., liberal) from “intolerant” (i.e., Religious Right) consumer boycotts. The latter objects to specific products, the former to ideas. So it’s not the chicken sandwich that offends, but the ideas of the guy who makes it. Political religion takes different forms. For political Islam, a women wearing a head scarf... Continue Reading
Realism, Race, and RUF in Mississippi
Reflecting on 35 years of racial change in Mississippi
Mississippi and the churches in Mississippi have come a long way. Those from other places who lack Mississippi’s past and present are in no place to judge the state justly. Mississippi continues to suffer for her own sins and the sins of others. The solutions for the severe and seemingly intractable problems that remain….will have to arise among Mississippians…. The lead... Continue Reading
As Debate Season Arrives, Don’t Lose Your Mind
Eight common informal logical fallacies that should not persuade clear thinkers
I would contend that Christian believers are to be among the clearest thinkers in the political arena. As proponents of absolute truth in a world of relativity, followers of Christ ought to have the sturdiest grip on the logic of rational persuasion among all who grapple on the mat of political discourse. We are about... Continue Reading
The Cure, the Weapon, and the Only Hope
The Church faces the same issues today as in the past; the solutions are in God’s Word
The solution to the Church’s woes isn’t that complex; we are experiencing symptoms of the same disease. We have ceased to trust. We have questioned God’s self-revelation in the Holy Scriptures. We fail to realize that the “solution” to every “issue” is to hold fast to the gospel that was first preached to us. The... Continue Reading
The Confessions Matter (or Maybe They Don’t)
The history of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been a confessional one; its the future will not be
The history of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been a confessional one. Based on the action of the commissioners of the 220th GA, the future will not be. Just as the body cannot survive long severed from its head, it is impossible for a denomination to bear a unified witness having cut itself loose from... Continue Reading
When Pastors Panic
The pastor’s panic wasn’t about possibly dying, but over his circumstances
I sent this email out after the struggles of the weekend. God had allowed me to have the cardiac catheterization on Monday. By now I knew I’d need the bypass surgery. God had prepared me. He had shored up my faith, against my own fear and against the attacks of the devil. On Tuesday, May... Continue Reading