According to Tocqueville, it is organized religion especially that instills basic conceptions of morality such as respect for marriage and honesty, and it is the transcendent mores implicit in Christianity that place limits on revolutionary or utopian dreams that would overthrow or subvert democratic institutions. Note, however, that while Tocqueville clearly thought that forms of... Continue Reading

I disagree with those who say that this “opens the door for dialog”, or that it give people “an introduction” to the Bible. This presentation of the Bible as a set of heroic individuals actually hinders future gospel presentation as it confuses the categories. If one already “knows the story”, why would they feel a... Continue Reading

But if we dig down deep enough, behind the logic of these excuses, we’ll find a horrible emotion is at the root of all these evangelism-choking weeds: FEAR   If “he who wins souls is wise” (Prov. 11:30), why are we so good at thinking up excuses for not evangelizing? The Calvinism Excuse: ”If God’s... Continue Reading

When people think of the crucial decades that have shaped American history after 1776, they automatically think of the Civil War, the two World Wars, the Depression era, and so on. But in my estimate, the decade of the Sixties and the so-called “counterculture” ranks with the most important of these, and is even more... Continue Reading

Walker Percy: “The present-day unbeliever is crazy because he finds himself born into a world of endless wonders, having no notion how he got here, a world in which he … grows old, gets sick, and dies, and is quite content to have it so … as if his prostate were not growing cancerous, his arteries turning to chalk,... Continue Reading

With the death of C. Everett Koop, the last of these three figures went to be with the Lord. Preceding him were Francis Schaeffer and Harold O. J. Brown. Together, Brown, Schaeffer, and Koop “successfully called Evangelical leaders back from their flirtation with abortion,”….“These three men made opposition to abortion a defining characteristic of late... Continue Reading

The greatest problem in America today is not so much the presence of darkness as it is the absence of light. Put another way, it is no surprise that sinful people do sinful things….And so we can’t be shocked when the darkness is dark. Instead, we who claim to be devoted to God must shine... Continue Reading

Postmodernism is about your truth and my truth, but never about the truth. Evangelical Catholicism, like all Great-Tradition Christianity, is about being found by the One who is the way, the truth, and the life, and clinging to him. Postmodern spirituality is about man’s search for God. Evangelical Catholicism, like all Great-Tradition Christianity, is about... Continue Reading

I find that people who are struggling with some issue tend to become myopic. All they see is the particular question or problem that they are struggling with. They fail to step back and see the big picture. Like a person holding his thumb in front of his face and seeing it as larger than... Continue Reading

Salem’s dismissal policy required that two-thirds of the church’s active membership be present for each vote taken, which was the case for the church. Ninety percent of Mebane’s active voting membership agreed to the dismissal terms during a Jan. 27 vote, nearly eight weeks after the church’s session and the Salem Presbytery Resolution Team hammered... Continue Reading