When did evangelicals get popes?
Before we cast stones at our Catholic friends for man-following, perhaps we should remove the video screen from our own eye.
Think about it while detaching yourself from your favorite multi-site, mega big-box preacher. Isn’t hitching ourselves so fully to one man’s teaching just a little odd? Doesn’t it smack, just a tad, of man-following? Even idolatry? And, if “it isn’t about me,” as one multi-site preacher is fond of saying, then why not take your... Continue Reading
Is It Just Me, or Did Kristallnacht Just Happen in Egypt?
The Muslim Brotherhood has pushed the centuries-old Christian presence to a historic low point.
“One senses that same hatred and desperation [that fueled the Germans] as the Muslim Brothers respond to the military’s crackdown by attacking defenseless Christians,” Doran reasons, “We may be thankful that the Muslim Brothers lack the organizational skill of the Nazis, but it appears they lack none of their hate.” No, it’s not just... Continue Reading
A Pulpit for Bullies
To campaign against the bullying of LGBT people as if disagreement with the gay lifestyle were an evil is itself a form of bullying
What gives these schools the right to engage in that catechesis? The business of the public school is akin to the business of a group of tutors hired by a group of parents. It has become, instead, the business of a group of self-imagined forward-thinking missionaries introducing students to their new and enlightened world, against... Continue Reading
Did the Old Testament Borrow from ANE Literature?
A review of John Currids’ latest book, Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament
In this wonderful volume, Currid tackles the question of the relationship between the OT and ANE literature from one particular angle, namely how the OT writers often engage with the surrounding ANE world in a polemical fashion. The OT writers use ANE literature to be sure. But that is not because they are adopting it, but because... Continue Reading
Pastors: an endangered species
Today we have many preachers, but few pastors
Most clergy I know are preachers, builders, managers, and some are scholars, but few are pastors. A pastor is one who shepherds a people. As the above passages from Psalms and the Gospel of John note, pastors know their sheep by hand, the the sheep know their shepherd by his voice. Pastoring is personal, while... Continue Reading
Biola apologizes, endorses use of graphic abortion images
In addition, Dr. Corey and his staff are working to ensure all Biola curricula is infused with pro-life teaching
Biola president Dr. Barry Corey, pictured right, has issued a public letter of apology for retaliatory actions staff members of his Christian university took against pro-life student Diana Jimenez in June for showing graphic images of abortion on campus: For actions on our part that were perceived to be heavy-handed and retaliatory, I have apologized... Continue Reading
I Hope To Be Proved Wrong
Really, I Do
Living in a world where the worst that happens is that I receive critical pushback on a blog post is one thing; living in a world where Christians cannot rent space in order to worship on a Sunday, where millions of abortions take place every year, and where every ethical value I hold dear is routinely... Continue Reading
7 Reasons the Old Testament is Neglected
Without the Old Testament, Christians suffer from an imbalance in their spiritual diet
Perhaps the greatest reason for so little interest in the Old Testament is that there has been so much Christ-less teaching from the Old Testament. At a popular level, Old Testament preaching has often degenerated into mere moralism (e.g. “Ten lessons from the life of Moses”). At an academic level, there seems to be a... Continue Reading
Three Things You Don’t Know About Your Children and Sex
Parents must speak to their children in grace and love about the problems of sex in our culture
… I am more aware now more than ever before in my ministry how little parents know about what’s happening. And because I’m not a parent, I feel terribly inadequate in telling you this. But I can’t not tell you. After seeing the innocence in the eyes of ten year olds who’ve carried secrets nobody, let alone a child, should carry; after... Continue Reading
Gov. Chris Christie’s Broadside Against Religious Liberty
Christie's signature of law attacks religious liberty and parental rights
This law means that convictional Christians in New Jersey may no longer participate in these professions without compromising their faith. It also means that children with unwanted same-sex attraction will have no help from licensed counselors. Christians and other people of faith in New Jersey have just had their marginalization ensconced in law. Governor... Continue Reading