Paul’s Letter of Joy & Peace
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:1-2) The Theme of Philippians In 1992, the Calvin scholar, T.H.L. Parker, wrote this about Calvin’s method... Continue Reading
The Christmas Culture Wars for 2009 Have Begun
The Christmas culture wars for 2009 have now begun and ground zero is the Detroit suburb of Warren, which for 63 years has hosted a privately maintained nativity scene set at the crossroads of the city. The Nativity display had been maintained by Warren city resident John Satawa and his family for most of the... Continue Reading
The Idolatrous Religion of Conscience
By R. Albert Mohler, Jr. “It wasn’t primarily about sex.” With those words, Lutheran theologian Robert Benne explained that the actions recently taken by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to normalize homosexuality were not primarily about sex at all, but about theological identity. “The ELCA has formally left the great tradition for liberal Protestantism,”... Continue Reading
Cap-and-Trade Update
On Sept. 30, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) unveiled their proposal for cap-and-trade (C&T) legislation. The Senate bill calls for a 20 percent reduction of U.S. CO2 emissions by 2020, and an 80 percent reduction by 2050—targets similar to those in the C&T bill passed by the House of Representatives in June.... Continue Reading
The Fundamental Disagreement Between The Religious Right And Religious Left
There has much conversation in recent years about both the religious right and religious left, as to why their views differ. Since both movements claim to be functionally Christian in their orientation, we need to examine why they often support opposing cultural mandates when it comes to putting faith into action. Probably the most often... Continue Reading
The Slippery Ways of Heretics
The three most common devices of heretics, in order to turn the discussion against their opponents are some form of this: 1. They claim to be misunderstood. This is easy because they use words deceptively and, when called, profess another meaning. The animal keeps changing. 2. They accuse you of arrogance: you are a “know... Continue Reading
Anger prevalent in balloon boy hoax
Anger is just one of many emotions surrounding the balloon boy hoax. Last Thursday afternoon, much of America paused to pray for the safety of Falcon Heene, who was reportedly inside a homemade aircraft floating high above Colorado, powered by helium and capable of reaching 10,000 feet. When is anger justified? When God is mad,... Continue Reading
Feminism Unfulfilled — Why Are So Many Women Unhappy?
“The woman’s movement wasn’t about happiness.” That judgment, attributed to feminist Susan Faludi, seems to be the blunt assessment shared by many other women. As numerous recent studies now indicate, a remarkably large percentage of women describe themselves as increasingly unhappy. This issue came to light last month in a fascinating essay by Maureen Dowd... Continue Reading
Worship Renewal Grants
Could your church, presbytery use $5,000-$15,000 for a worship project? Read on. Each year the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship disburses about $500,000 in worship renewal grants. My church was awarded one this year (described later). This is the tenth year of the program and grants were awarded to 43 projects in 2009. The CICW... Continue Reading
Should church aligned private colleges accept lottery scholarships?
With the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery in it’s third week and gathering steam. Many church aligned private colleges are having to deal with the issue of their students playing the lottery. So far only 1 college has come out and forbad it’s students from playing. Others, like Crowley’s Ridge College in Paragould are letting their handbook... Continue Reading