Cultural Engagement

The posts below attempt to deal with cultural issues that Christians face which may or may not be directly related to the church, but will most likely have an impact on Christian living.

Ethics: Seminary Student Preaches Someone Else’s Sermons

What would you do Wednesday! Today I’m going to pick-on set the situation within the realm of Southern Baptists since I are one. It is also more culturally acceptable to use your own as an example, right? (Don’t worry, non-Southern Baptists may also comment.) The created situation involves a seminary student who preaches someone else’s [...]

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Ethics: the Deacons are Freemasons!

What would you do Wednesday! Freemasonry is not as active as it was in the past. It was already on the decline when I left the lodge 13 years ago. Although I imagine the Shriners, of whom all are Masons, are still pretty active. Freemasonry was once a concern in Southern Baptist life. In fact, [...]

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Ethics: Church Discipline Contract Issued

What would you do Wednesday! Today’s situation deals with the uncomfortable issue of church discipline. To make the situation more uncomfortable a church discipline contract will also be involved. The scenario is inspired by real circumstances surrounding a former Mars Hill Church member named Andrew who was issued a church discipline contract to sign.1 Imagine [...]

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God is Doing Amazing Things!

God is going to do something awesome. God is going to do something amazing. God is doing something incredible. God is doing something awesome. God is doing something amazing. God is doing amazing things. It’s going to be awesome. Let’s change the world. God will prosper you. Fly with the eagles. Listen to the Spirit. [...]

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On Public Rebuke

As far as I know, being rebuked is not something to which most Christians look forward, especially, being publicly rebuked. However, Scripture says it is good for rebuke (2 Tim. 3:16). Scripture even includes the well-known example of one Apostle publicly rebuking another Apostle (Gal. 2:11, 14). Today, there is no shortage of Christians rebuking [...]

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Ethics: Prominent Pastor Plagiarizes?

What would you do Wednesday! The question of plagiarized sermons comes up every now and then. Whether or not one should preach someone else’s sermons has been debated in the blogosphere, too. Selling sermons must not be too bad of a business considering the eight sites listed on Sermon Source that continue to sell sermons. There [...]

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Jimmy Fallon on Tim Tebow: Comedy or Blasphemy?

Last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Fallon did a parody song by combining Tim Tebow to David Bowie and producing the singer Tebowie (Tim Tebow + David Bowie = Tebowie). Fallon sung as if a dialogue were taking place between Tim Tebow and Jesus Christ to the tune of Bowie’s song “Space Oddity” [...]

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Ethics: Church to Lose Funding Over Homosexual Adoption

What would you do Wednesday! The New York Times reported that Roman Catholic charities in Illinois must comply with a new requirement to “consider same-sex couples as potential foster-care and adoptive parents if they want to receive state money.”1 Catholic bishops claim that these requirements infringe on freedom of religion. Catholic charities in other cities [...]

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What God is This? Osteen on Oprah

This clip is riddled with unbiblical conclusions. Toward the beginning, in reference to Osteen’s prosperity preaching, Oprah asks, “What god would want you to be poor and miserable?” Osteen does say that prosperity includes peace of mind and a healthy body rather than just material wealth. Osteen also says that there is a belief that [...]

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Elephant Room II and TD Jakes’ Oneness Association

Elephant Room II is only 20 days away. T.D. Jakes is still on the schedule.1 Several of us disagreed with Jakes being a participant2, including Mark Dever who withdrew3, but I did suggest some questions for Jakes.4 Although I am still not very excited about Jakes participation, I am interested in what he will have [...]

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Friday Photos: Civil War Reenactment

It has been said that, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” though I have also read somewhere that,”Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.” Whichever you are, I hope you enjoy a few pictures from my wife’s photo shoot at the Civil War reenactment that took place in Richmond Hill, GA at [...]

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Ethics: Renting to a Homosexual Couple

What would you do Wednesday! The Michael Medved Show recently covered the topic of the discrimination lawsuit filed against Aloha Bed & Breakfast by a lesbian couple. The B&B owner, Phyllis Young, allegedly denied the couple a room due to her Christian views on homosexuality. The lesbian couple is suing claiming a violation of Hawaiian law [...]

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What Will You Do with the Christmas Gift?

Another Christmas has come and gone and a new year is around the corner. A year lies ahead both to use this year’s Christmas gifts and think about next year’s. However, some gifts are all ready used up although some are advertised as gifts that keep on giving. There is only one gift that keeps [...]

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Happy Holidays?

During Christmas time it is not uncommon to hear phrase Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Of course, many people still say Merry Christmas. I prefer Merry Christmas and will even reply as such when people say Happy Holidays to me. Depending on the worldview there are people who not only prefer one phrase to [...]

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Ethics: Don’t Quote Me, Bro!

What would you do Wednesday! Today’s scenario is an interesting one involving blogging, although it could be applied to any online writing. The online exchange of words and ideas is amazingly fast. If a blogger has any kind of audience and he posts something that challenges that audience there is probably going to be a [...]

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Is Tim Tebow a Religious Hypocrite?

In his article, “Tim Tebow Trivializes Religion” Bill Press uses Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:5 to call Tim Tebow a hypocrite. 1 In light of Press labeling Tebow a hypocrite he also wishes that Tebow would “STFU”.2 Press, a Roman Catholic, attended a Catholic university and earned a degree in theology.3 The 71 year old [...]

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Ethics: Pastor Opposes Tim Tebow Preaching

What would you do Wednesday! NFL quarterback Tim Tebow gets a lot of news coverage because of the way he and the Broncos are winning football games and, more specifically, for his outspoken faith in Jesus Christ. It could be argued that his Christianity has become more of a story than the last minute wins. [...]

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Kicking Off the Atheist

The clip below shows atheist Dan Barker of the “Freedom from Religion Foundation” appearing on Fox Business Network’s “Follow the Money” with host Eric Bolling. First, Barker made some unfavorable comments about Christianity. Then, Bolling stopped the conversation and kicked Barker off the show for “denigrating the name of Jesus Christ.” Would you have kicked [...]

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Friday Photo Sharing by My Wife

I asked my wife if I could post some of her recent photos. She said “yes” and gave me some of them. I think they’re great, but some might say I’m biased. What do ya think?

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Ethics: High School Football Practice Changed for Ramadan

What would you do Wednesday! In one of the episodes of TLC’s new TV show All-American Muslim a local high school football team changed their practice time for the observance of Ramadan.1 Ramadan is a month of Islamic fasting where “Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours.”2 Today’s scenario is based [...]

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Ethics: Pastor Admits to Homosexual Orientation

What would you do Wednesday! Thanks to my friend Rhology for this week’s topic. Your main preaching pastor is about to offer a Sunday morning pastoral prayer. Before praying one of your associate pastors steps up to the pulpit to make an important announcement and asks everyone for prayers on the issue. He begins. As [...]

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The Gospel in the Liquor Store

The following true story is about a seminary student sharing the gospel in a liquor store. The student is an acquaintance and the story is shared with permission. This is all that will be revealed of this student. One of the most divisive disagreements among conservative Christians is the subject of Christians drinking alcohol. Tim [...]

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Ethics: Christian Converts to Islam to Marry Muslim

What would you do Wednesday! TLC’s new TV show All-American Muslim recently had an episode where a Roman Catholic converted to Islam so he could marry a Muslim woman.1 My wife and I had some interesting discussions about this situation. The Roman Catholic mother and father did not seem to be bothered as much as [...]

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Occupy My Vote?

I’ve gotten some questions since being a finalist in the Blogging Scholarship and asking for votes so that I might win $10,000 which I would use to pay for seminary.1 I suppose with all of the Occupy Wall Street2 stuff going on people leery of someone else asking for something. Or people probably just want [...]

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Scholarship Voting Reset: I Need Your Help Please!

OK, folks. I recently asked for your vote for the $10,000 Blogging Scholarship which, if I won, I would use to pay for seminary.1 Some people were getting votes that were off the charts in comparison to the amount of monthly website visits they get. A few of us on twitter noticed this trend of [...]

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Help! I’ve Got a Serious Problem

My buddy Frank says I’ve got a serious problem.1 But then my buddy James says that I’m good folk.2 Are they just playing good-friend/bad-friend? Who are you going to believe? Hint: They are both friends who are trying to help me with the same cause. And I need your help too! I recently wrote an [...]

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So You Want My Daughter?

I’ve always been intrigued about why a Christian would want to date or marry a non-Christian. A solid biblical case can be made that a Christian should only date or marry another Christian.1 In a mixed dating situation the Christian is not trusting Christ nor finding Him sufficient, but is looking elsewhere to satisfy certain [...]

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Blogging Scholarship Entry Essay 2011

Last year I wrote an essay in an attempt to apply for the Blogging Scholarship contest.1 My entry was accepted and I was entered into the contest. The competition was tough. I was very thankful that though I did not win, ultimately ended up getting enough votes to win third place.2 It’s that time of [...]

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Happy Veterans Day 2011

Those who live today remember those who do not. Those who know freedom remember today those who gave up life for freedom. Today, in honor of the dead, we conduct ceremonies. We lay wreaths. We speak words of tribute. And in our memories, in our hearts, we hold them close to us still. Yet we [...]

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Are Christians to Blame for Gay Teen Suicides?

John Shore created the video below and used it to ask if Christians have some culpability in gay teen suicides in an article at the Huffington Post. 1 The question of whether or not there is a gay teen suicide epidemic has also been raised.2 The video did not make me mad, but it did [...]

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An Interesting Occupy Wall Street Exchange

Peter Schiff, CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., engaged some of the Occupy Wall Street protesters at Zuccotti Park. Or maybe it should be said that he attempted to engage them. Schiff asked questions to about their cause trying to find out what would satisfy some of the protesters. His questions [...]

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Ethics: Whether or Not To Leave a Church Over the Pastor’s Sermons

What would you do Wednesday! Today’s scenario is based on a real life dilemma from a reader who is struggling with how he or she should remedy their situation. I will give the gist of the situation, but the reader who sent the inquiry will remain anonymous. Let’s see what advice you would give your [...]

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Hating Viki Knox: A Missed Opportunity in First Amendment Rights

Viki Knox, a Union Township New Jersey high school teacher, was recently suspended with pay for comments she made on her Facebook wall. In her comments she criticized the lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender history month display at her school. (This display is pictured at the right.) Although the Facebook comments have been removed a New [...]

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Ethics: Pastoral Candidate Answers Questions on the Trinity

What would you do Wednesday! For years T.D. Jakes has been unclear when challenged to give his position on the Trinity. His most recent answers to questions on the Trinity are from a radio appearance in 2010 which I’ve transcribed.1 Even though he mentions that he believes that God exists in “three Persons,” he offered [...]

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What I Wish TV Hosts Would Ask Christians

Trevin Wax has an excellent post on how he wishes the homosexuality debate would go between TV hosts and pastors.1 Trevin offers an example of good dialogue with the Christian re-directing the conversation so it is not concentrating on homosexuality. The dialogue could actually work with a dose of patience, focus and enough time. I [...]

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An “in Christ” Mindset

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:1-2 ESV) Notice how Paul begins the letter to the Philippians. He calls Paul and Timothy “servants” [...]

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Ethics: Deacons Call for Pastor to Resign

What would you do Wednesday! Joe McKeever has a sad post about a real life situation with a great outcome over at SBC Today.1 McKeever describes a call he got from a pastor who was informed by his deacon board that they voted he should resign. Not only should the pastor leave, but he should [...]

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iHeaven: Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

The creative genius of Steve Jobs has left its mark on the world. Jobs’ ideas and implementation of those ideas raised the bar significantly in technological advancement. He left us with Apple products that have changed the ways information is used, accessed and shared. His ideas will live on and most likely continue to spur [...]

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Are Metro-Atlanta Schools Promoting Islam?

At least one parent of a Metro-Atlanta middle school student is concerned that his child’s homework promotes Islam in the classroom. Is he right? Watch the video below and decide. As stated in the video, the curriculum was given to the school by the State of Georgia as part of a Middle Eastern studies program. [...]

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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in Class

Fourteen year old Fort Worth, Texas high school student, Dakota Ary, was suspended from school for stating his personal opinion that homosexuality is wrong. Dakota is an honor student who has never been in trouble at school. His one summary sentence sums up the event. We were talking about religions in Germany. And I said [...]

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Does “Southern” Give Southern Baptists a Bad Image?

The above wordle was created in 2009 by Thom Rainer, President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. The wordle is composed of the 140 character replies to Rainer’s twitter question - “What do you think when you hear ‘Southern Baptist’?” Thom Rainer’s son, Sam, categorized the unscientific twitter results stating, “About 60% of the respondents gave [...]

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Why Bryant Wright Will Succeed in Changing the SBC Brand

The following is a guest post by Nathan Creitz. Nathan is originally from the South but now lives with his wife and two children as a missionary in New England. Nathan makes disciples and teaches New England churches and ministries how to fulfill the Great Commission in their town. He blogs about making disciples in [...]

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Ethics: Baptism by Pouring-Joining a Baptist Church

What would you do Wednesday! The following scenario takes place in a Baptist church. However, non-Baptists may give share their perspective too. The situation has to do with new members being brought before a local Baptist congregation for membership affirmation. The congregation is gathered and five new members and one family are being affirmed. The [...]

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Never Forget

I will never forget September 11, 2001. I was sitting in the office with my colleagues waiting for the stock market to open watching the news on the big screen TV. Around 8:45 am the news channel’s focus moved from stock to shock as it reported that a plane had hit the North Tower of [...]

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Would You Pray at Ground Zero?

An interfaith prayer vigil will be held at the National Cathedral for the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It seems that no Evangelicals were invited to participate along side the “dean of the Cathedral, the Bishop of Washington, a rabbi, Buddhist nun and incarnate lama, a Hindu priest, the president of the [...]

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Ethics: New Church and a Pastor’s Affair

What would you do Wednesday! The scenario for this dilemma takes place with the reader just moving to a new town and visiting a new church. The situation involving the church and its pastor is, sadly, based on a true story. Upon taking a recent promotion your company moves you to a part of the [...]

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Ethics: A Death and the Age of Accountability

What would you do Wednesday! Dr. Lemke recently wrote about the age of accountability.1 In the comment of that post Lemke mentioned that the Presbyterian position which denies the age of accountability has “always been a bit embarrassing pastorally — or as the saying goes, it won’t sell in Peoria.” This post will use age [...]

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Israel, A Christian Idol?

In the following video Mormon Glenn Beck sits with Evangelical David Barton who introduces hyper-dispensationalist, prosperity preacher John Hagee1. These men are together for the sake of supporting the modern day state of Israel. Supporting Israel is not a bad thing, but are they supporting Israel in a biblical sense? For starters, Hagee, a professing [...]

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Ethics: Church Leader Publicly Drinks Alcohol

What would you do Wednesday! There has been a lot of blogging about Christians and alcohol lately. Today’s scenario will follow suit and deals with seeing a church leader drinking alcohol in public. It’s Friday evening and your out to dinner with a few friends from church. Dinner is in an open area where several [...]

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Servant Evangelism: Gimmick or Grace?

Steve Sjogren is know for what is called Servant Evangelism which, as I understand it, is a way of doing outreach through acts of kindness in hopes of sharing the gospel. At SermonCentral.com Sjogren has an article titled 94 Servant Evangelism Ideas for Your Church. The ideas he lists are certain good, kind things to [...]

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Preaching: Young, Restless and Four?

Paul wrote to Timothy and stated, ” Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12 ESV) I don’t think Paul had a four year old preacher in mind as one way this Scripture may be applied. [...]

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Brewing Controversy: A Respectful Disagreement with John MacArthur

[The following reply is a guest post originally published on spencernix.com (hyperlink removed the site is currently hacked) by friend and fellow blogger Spencer Nix. Spencer is a north Georgia native and Lead Pastor of Isaac's Keep in Canton, Georgia. He enjoys connecting with people and their story and living life simply and beautifully in [...]

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Alcohol: Of Greeks and Barbarians

There has been enough talk about alcohol on Christians blogs lately to make readers drunk with words. While alcohol is always a favorite topic on Southern Baptist blogs1 one of the well-esteemed pastors of our day, John MacArthur, also felt the need to address the topic2. MacArthur was answered by the accused, Erik Raymond3 and [...]

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Church Sign of the Week: King James Only

This photo was taken in the Smoky Mountains while on vacation. We had just driven onto Cherokee land when we passed this church sign. So we turned the car around and took a picture of it. The church name is included in the original picture, but I cut that part out. For the record, the [...]

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Anders Breivik Needs to be Crucified

After Anders Breivik went on a killing spree various media sources identified him as a fundamentalist Christian. Many Christians rejected that claim, not only because of his actions, but because of the words he wrote in his manifesto. I even quoted Breivik’s manifesto in Was Anders Breivik a Christian? to refute the claim that he [...]

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Ethics: Female Pastor Presented to Preach Sunday Morning

What would you do Wednesday! The inspiration for this week’s post comes from a real issue that happened in a local Southern Baptist association. Surry Baptist Association in North Carolina disfellowshipped Rocks Baptist Church for calling Bailey Edwards Nelson, a female, a their pastor. Then, Dave at SBCVoices asked – Are Churches with Female Pastors [...]

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IMB Missionary Interview for LovingMuslims.com

The International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention recently launched a website to encourage Christians reach out to their Muslim neighbors. The website is LovingMuslims.com and the timing of the launch was no mistake as the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 approaches. I had the privilege to send a few question to the [...]

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Ethics: Adding Alcohol Abstinence to the Church Covenant

What would you do Wednesday! Your pastor recently read John Piper’s article Alcohol and Church Membership that explains why Piper pushed to have the phrase on abstaining from the use of beverage alcohol removed from his church covenant. Upon further consideration your pastor decided to do the opposite of what Piper did. He proposed to add [...]

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Discipleship Through Judgement

Look at the word discipleship. There within it is the word disciple, which is obviously related to the word discipline. In view of the next section on corrective church discipline, I would point out that discipleship is the other side of the coin—it is formative church discipline. These words, discipleship/discipline/ disciple, all connote ideas of [...]

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The Church Tomb of George Whitefield in Pictures

Some friends of mine were recently in Maine visiting family. While there they visited the Old South Church which was founded by George Whitefield in Newbury, MA. Not only did Whitefield found this church, but he is also buried there below the pulpit. I asked for the pictures so I could share them here and they [...]

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Ethics: Southern Baptist Pastor Becomes a Calvinist

What would you do Wednesday! All week anticipation of this Sunday’s sermon has been high since the planned topic is election. One of your fellow church members has recently embraced Calvinism so you’re hoping the pastor gives some good biblical arguments to discuss with him. Last year in a sermon your pastor made it clear that [...]

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On Frivolous Prayer and Reverence

Given the discussions on the recent NASCAR prayer both here (A NASCAR Prayer, Parody or Blasphemy?) and elsewhere the commentary below from Calvin offers helpful perspective to consider on prayer. In the first quote, Calvin addresses the state of the mind and reverence to God in prayer. Let the first rule of right prayer then [...]

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A NASCAR Prayer, Parody or Blasphemy?

Below is a transcript and video of the invocation “prayer” that Pastor Joe Nelms of Family Baptist Church in Lebanon, TN (near Nashville) recently gave at a NASCAR event. I’m not sure how to respond other than to scratch my head and think of this in light of the state of American Christianity. Of course, [...]

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Was Anders Breivik a Christian?

My prayers go out to the people of Norway and all of those affected by the vicious murders of Anders Breivik. My intention is not to make less of what happened in Norway, but to explain that his murderous actions were not of the teachings of Christianity. I expect to see reactions from other conservative [...]

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Is God the Author of Evil?

Is there any sense in which God can be said to be the author of evil? In the quote below one author answers yes. See if you agree. God is the author (is in sovereign control) of everything that happens. Evil is something that happens. So God is the author of evil. If this is [...]

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Dear Same-Sex Marriage

Dear Same-sex marriage, May I call you SSM? Thanks! So, what are you? And what have you done with marriage? Actually, you haven’t done anything with marriage. I’m here writing you. Yes, this is Marriage sending you a note. I’m a little upset that you’re trying to do away with me by re-defining me. However, [...]

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News Show Host: Mitt Romney Is Not a Christian

“Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt made a passing remark about Mitt Romney’s faith when talking about viable fund raising avenues for Republican presidential candidates. She said that that “Romney, obviously not being a Christian” would not be able to raise money from the Christian Coalition. Interesting and presumably accurate if Romney hold’s to his [...]

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Jim Wallis and Richard Land Debate Morality and the Deficit

The video topics break down as follows: Why the budget is a moral document (02:34) What’s the real cause of the deficit? (05:04) Debating taxes for the wealthy and entitlements (08:14) Jim: The poorest shouldn’t bear the brunt of balancing the budget (03:03) Does baby boomer retirement make means-testing necessary? (05:11) The parable of the [...]

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Popping Off Is Not Pastoral

Christianity in America seems to be in a constant state of decline rather than a constant state of repentance. One sign of this decline is the way in which celebrity rather than Scripture seems to have become the lens through which certain pastors are evaluated. This type of bias undermines the witness of the Church [...]

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Ethics: If Your Pastor Says You Suck?

What would you do Wednesday! As you roll out of bed Sunday morning to get ready for church the memory of an uncomfortable conversation with the pastor earlier in the week takes over your thoughts. “I never complain. Maybe I shouldn’t have complained about the music,” you think, “but our recent worship songs have been [...]

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Atheist Hopes for Brokeback Mountain Moment

Steve Walsh on the CNN religion blogs reports that New atheist movie ‘The Ledge’ evangelizes godlessness. The film is written and directed by outspoken atheist Matthew Chapman. Apparently, Chapman wants to make an an atheist character into a Hollywood hero with a Christian being the bad guy. Chapman is pushing for a form of atheist evangelism [...]

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Mini-Movie: Bahnsen vs. Stein on the Laws of Logic

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Ironic Church Sign of the Week

The above picture was taken by one of my pastors right down the road from our church building. Can you spot the irony?

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A Response: Patriotism and Christian Worship

Pastor David Brumbelow recently posted Patriotism and Christian Worship at SBC Voices. I will admit upfront that I disagree with Brumbelow on this topic. I’ve even written about patriotic worship in the past on more than on occasion. Christians will probably continue to disagree about this topic this side of heaven. Make no mistake that [...]

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Freedom: More Than An American

Christian, what will be at the forefront of your mind during corporate worship this 4th of July weekend? (HT: John Strickland)

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Transcript and Commentary: Al Mohler On Homosexuality at the SBC

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Seminary, recently answered a question from Dr. Peter Lumpkins concerning alleged comments he made about Evangelicals and homosexuality. The question was answered from the floor of the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting during his report on Southern Seminary. Dr. Mohler confirmed that the statements in question were [...]

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Ethics: Which Pastor, Anger or Homosexuality?

What would you do Wednesday! The following scenario was built upon an actual question that was asked to a group of Christian men about which pastor they would choose in a given situation. Read on. I also believe that a measure of homophobia has existed in many Southern Baptists. My evidence? I asked a group [...]

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A Teenager On Youth Ministry

I’m recycling a post about a teenager named Erica who was given an assignment to write an editorial on the subject of her choice. She choose youth ministry. Youth ministry is difficult. Questions are often asked about how to best reach and minister to youth. It can be hard to get into the mind of [...]

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NFL Star David Tyree On Gay Marriage

A few highlights and comments. At the beginning of the video Tyree offers a question which all Christians can apply to their lives regardless of profession. He asks, “Do our fans mean more than our position in eternity?” He then explains that marriage is the “only relationship that actually mirrors a relationship with God. It’s [...]

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The Southern Baptist Phantom Menace

Imagine for a moment that a church friend comes to you and expresses his frustration over another member of the church. Your friend mentions that he is tired of Sunday School at various times. He does not like the way things are taught sometimes or some of the methods used in the lessons. In his [...]

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Southern Baptist Church Offices, Elders et al. (Update)

Update below. A simple Google search will yield discussions concerning Southern Baptists and the subject of having a plurality of elders/pastors in place in the local church. It is understandable that there are biblical interpretive disagreements on how a church ought to fill its offices, on congregational involvement, etc. Hopefully, all local congregations seek to [...]

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Friday Favorites 06/03/11

What Is the Gospel? for 99 cents! – The Kindle Edition is $.99 right now for this great book by Greg Gilbert with the Foreword by D. A. Carson. [another] Open Letter to John Piper – Frank Turk writes another open letter to Piper concerning his interview with Rick Warren. Thinking About Rick Warren & [...]

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Did the Gay Clergy Lie?

The StarTribune reports that Presbyterians to allow gays to be ordained ministers. Note: Those Presbyterians would be of the PCUSA branch. I’m sure many would call them PiNO’s (Presbyterian in name only.) Thankfully, some in the PCUSA spoke against the newly affirmed policy which will now allow openly gay and lesbian members to be ordained [...]

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Did Mark Richt Make Me A Dawgs Fan?

Being a graduate of Georgia Southern University (GSU) hasn’t really influenced me to be a Georgia Bulldogs (UGA) fan. I was actually not a fan for a few years after I got to see how poorly Dawg fans treated GA Southern fans when played against each other. See, UGA and GSU play each other every [...]

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Keller On Fanatical Christians (with example?) Update

Update Just as I was about to post the quote below I was notified about the above tweet. I read it and thought about Keller’s words below. I wondered – does that tweet fit the definition of a fanatical Christian that Keller writes about? Here are two quotes from two professing Christians with whom I [...]

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Sermon: Drinking Is Not Drunkeness

Eddie Exposito, a pastor friend from Louisiana, preached a sermon about the biblical approach to alcohol. The sermon, linked below, is called Drinking Is Not Drunkenness. He addresses some of the unbiblical approaches to alcohol that are prevalent today and offers a corrective, biblical view. I thought some of you would appreciate this sermon. Drinking [...]

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Lord’s Day 05/08/11 Spurgeon On Mothers

Happy Mother’s Day! Below are some excerpts from the section “Early Religious Impressions” found in Charles Spurgeon’s Autobiography. I thought they would be appropriate for Mother’s Day. Yet I cannot tell how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother. It was the custom, on Sunday evenings, while we were yet little [...]

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How Would Jesus Tax?

Lawrence O’Donnell vs. Rush Limbaugh: Biblical lessons from the media? Or – How to do eisegesis? Guess which one argues for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Ethics: Christian, a Former Muslim, Wants to Burn Qur’an

What would you do Wednesday! This week’s situation has to do with a current controversial subject, Qur’an burning. This scenario is a different from the Qur’an burning by Terry Jones that took place in Florida. The person in today’s scenario has a different perspective and reason for his position although he hasn’t quite made up [...]

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Universalism: Rob Bell and Paul Dean

Even before the release of his latest book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Rob Bell set the blogosphere ablaze. The biggest charge against Bell is that of him being a universalist. In a recent interview with Newsweek’s Lisa Miller, Bell first states, with qualifications, [...]

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Advanced-Objective-Relevant Conference?

Beyond the Basics? Advanced, Objective, Relevant? I can across the above conference advertisement today. It looks like an interesting conference, doesn’t it? Great graphics. Would you attend? Wait! What kind of conference? A Christian conference? What do you think?

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“Live the Gospel” Charles Spurgeon Advised

Can anyone but Christ live the gospel? Disagreements on the answer to this question can be seen from Open Letters to The Fear of Antinomianism. I wonder if the disagreements lie within what one means when challenging others to “live the gospel.” I don’t know of anyone who uses this phrase to mean that Christians [...]

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Wisdom of Solomon, Obama and Abortion

This article was originally published on Nov 19, 2008. In light of Dr. Mohler’s post today, In His Own Words: A Radical Pro-Abortion President, I thought I would re-publish my post below. Obama and Solomon There has been much past discussion about Obama concerning his stance on abortion. This discussion is not going to end [...]

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What If Governor Robert Bentley Instead…

Newly elected Alabama Governor Robert Bentley made headlines recently while speaking at a church in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. His words were delivered right after he was sworn in as governor. There may be more of a timing issue here because though he was speaking at a church, the offending words were his [...]

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Church Sign: Gospel or Moralism?

In a message this morning about post-modernism the church sign pictured above was put up as an example of what post-modernists are rebelling against in the modernist Christian culture. The question that crossed my mind is whether this picture is an example of reaching out with the gospel or with moralism?

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A Word for the New Year and My Top 10 for 2010

First, I leave you with some words of encouragement to take into the 2011 New Year from Thomas Watson’s A Body of Divinity. Then, my top 10 popular posts for 2010. How diligent and zealous should we be in glorifying God, that we may come at last to enjoy him! If Tully, Demosthenes, and Plato, [...]

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Book Review: The Purity Principle

Alcorn, Randy. The Purity Principle: God’s Safeguards for Life’s Dangerous Trails (LifeChange Books). Sisters: Multnomah Books, 2003. Randy Alcorn is a well-known Christian author and speaker. He has written over 30 books which include both fiction and non-fiction. He is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries (EPM) through which he has ministered to [...]

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A Grinch Alert?

I’m convinced that the celebration of Christmas is always going to be a point of contention somewhere. Whether it’s from anti-Christian secularists, Christians who are convicted that it is not a holiday to be celebrated or corporations that embrace the holiday season in general simply as a means for revenue. Scripture gives Christians no direct [...]

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Six Megaproblems and the Gospel Ain’t One (via Barna)

Yesterday, Barna posted the results of a the study – Six Megathemes Emerge from Barna Group Research in 2010. The six points are numbered below in bold. The research is based research conducted throughout 2010. I’m unsure how many polls or people in total were involved. It gives me no pleasure to read these conclusion, [...]

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I’m A Christian by Tim Hawkins (Bon Jovi Tune)

This is probably my favorite Tim Hawkins parody song (if you can call it that since there’s no joking). It’s sung to the tune of Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi. The title is either I’m A Christian or What I Believe. Either way it’s a keeper.

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Contentment and Pride

Another rule is, that those in narrow and slender circumstances should learn to bear their wants patiently, that they may not become immoderately desirous of things, the moderate use of which implies no small progress in the school of Christ. For in addition to the many other vices which accompany a longing for earthly good, [...]

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Friday Favorites 12/03/10

Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. – Thomas Watson I got nothin’ – My friend Frank Turk shows that the cult of personality is still alive in Christiandom. Should Every Christian Have A Blog? – Nathan Bingham provides an interesting perspective on Christian blogging. Germans [...]

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Friday Favorites 11/19/10

Build your nest upon no tree here; for you see God has sold the forest to death. — Samuel Rutherford Meet the ‘Cheapest Man Alive’ – He drives a 1992 car, packs his lunch, reuses paperclips and is worth millions. Four Reasons You Should Resist the New TSA Security Procedures (and How You Can) – [...]

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Ethics: Should Pastors Accept Gifts from Members?

What would you do Wednesday! This weeks question deals with the subject of pastors accepting gifts from church members. Depending on the gift, some may see accepting certain gifts as inappropriate. For example, in 2009, a story broke where there were allegations of inappropriate monetary gifts to a pastor. Tom Rich started a blog over [...]

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Evangelical Identity

I wonder if description below would be true of evangelical Christians as they are known today. If not, I wonder if this should be the description and if it’s a place worth trying to get to. Conclusion: Evangelical Identity Evangelicals believe, first of all, the gospel as it is set forth in the Bible. The [...]

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Friday Favorites 11/12/10

Congratulations to Jason Smathers for winning the Amazing Grace DVD giveaway. Book (Giveaway) Review: Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill – Aaron reviews and is giving away a copy of this book which deals with Christianity and homosexuality. Do Our Church Testimonies Empower Satan? – Russell Moore asks an intriguing question. what’s wrong with your pastor? – [...]

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Ethics: Your Pastor Reveals He is Gay

What would you do Wednesday! It was a normal Sunday morning worship service. Everything was moving along as usual until the pastor began his sermon. He stood up and began what seemed like a sermon introduction. Instead of preaching he began explaining that he needed to come out or confess something to the congregation. His [...]

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The Blogging Scholarship: Thanks, Thoughts, and Cheating

The 2010 Blogging Scholarship contest is over. I had a good run and ended up placing 3rd. I’d like to say thank you to some folks, give some brief thoughts about the competition and look at the cheating allegations. Thank you! I’d like to thank those who promoted me on their blogs (I tried my [...]

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Friday Favorites 11/05/10

Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism – DVD Giveaway – A reminder that this giveaway ends Monday unless I extend it. Christians and Drinking Alcohol – JD Greear’s take on this controversial issue. Do you agree? Almost Christian: Q&A with Kenda Creasy Dean – Terrace Crawford interviews the author of an interesting new [...]

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Ridiculous Item: ‘Jesus was HIV Positive’

Apparently, South African pastor, Xola Skosana, has claimed that Jesus was HIV positive to raise awareness about how poorly churches treat people who are HIV positive. This report comes from the Daily Mail Reporter story ‘Jesus was HIV-positive’: South African pastor sparks outrage with bizarre claim. A bizarre claim and then some. ‘Wherever you open [...]

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Ethics: Church Member Invites You To R-Rated Movie Night

What would you do Wednesday! It’s Friday night and your husband has already left for a deacon retreat for the weekend. He’ll be home Saturday night so you’ve got Friday night and Saturday free. You will miss him, but know that you will only be apart for one day and it will allow you to [...]

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Work: A Cure for the Monday Morning Blues

When you have had one of those take-this-job-and-shove-it-days, try this. On your way home after work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the section where they have thermometers. You will need to purchase a rectal thermometer made by the Q-tip Company. Be sure that you get this brand. When you get home, lock your [...]

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Friday Favorites 10/29/2010

Can you ethically invest in unethical companies? – Felix Salmon attempts to answer. Procrastination – David McRaney dispels the myth that procrastination is due to laziness and poor time management. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach – Michael R. Licona has a new book out defending the resurrection. The Doctrine of the Word [...]

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Heaven, Hell and Politicians

Below is a story using a politician and his choice between heaven and hell illustrating the tactics some (many?) politicians use to get votes. I thought it interesting so I decided to share it. The author is unknown at this point. I will be glad to attribute it if someone can tell me the author’s [...]

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Ethics: The Abandoned Husband

What would you do Wednesday! Bob married Martha eight years ago, and they quickly had three children. After six especially tumultuous months, Bob came home from work one day and found a note taped to the refrigerator: “Dear Bob, I can’t keep giving anymore. I need some time for myself. Good-bye for now.” The financial [...]

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10,000 Reasons to Vote for Me?

I asked for help for The Blogging Scholarship and shared my essay. You answered. Guess what? Praise the Lord, I made the top 10! Please CLICK HERE to vote for me, Mark Lamprecht, to help me win a $10,000 scholarship to help pay for seminary. That is 10,000 reasons to vote for me and I’d [...]

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Poll: Is the Reformation Over?

Reformation Day 2010, October 31, falls on this coming Sunday. In light of this, I thought this would be an interesting question to ask. Are the theological positions of the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent now reconciled? Or are we still divided? Does it matter? What do you think? Discussion welcomed.

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Friday Favorites 10/22/2010

Johnny Hunt, Calvinism, and the Past Ten Years of My Life – See the gospel at work in a young Calvinist. I appreciate Tim’s post. He is a friend and brother in Christ. I Want Your Money – A new documentary that releases this weekend by Ray Griggs that looks at government spending by contrasting [...]

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Religious Freedom: Jesus vs Islam

Religious freedom in this country seems to have taken a turn. Maybe a new definition is in order. Religious freedom: mention religion and you’re free to find a new job. Examples of this can be found in situations where Jesus or Islam have been mentioned. The mention of both have resulted in some form of [...]

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Ethics: A Church Member Wins the Lottery

What would you do Wednesday! While away visiting relatives in another state one of your friends from church bought a $1 lottery ticket at the influence of his cousin. He never plays the lottery and hasn’t thought much about it. He figured that it was only $1 so what could it hurt? It turns out [...]

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Is Your Church White?

Is your church white? That is the disturbing question what was email to a church in Apex, NC. Ken Keathley recently shared this inquiry over at Between the Times in his post A Shocking Question. The context of this disturbing question was: We know the Lord loves all of us, but we believe in honoring [...]

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Scientific Deconstruction of Science

All of us tempted to swallow this popular pill, cunningly served up with our secular education, should appreciate that the empiricists have not shown that the Creator has not spoken in his creation or in the Christ of Scripture. In the process of their argument they annihilate empirical science itself, the very thing that they [...]

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Christians Are Jerks! Update

Jennifer Johnson on The Examiner offers more insight of this story in Local church makes headlines. She quotes the people behind the billboard, Pastor Chris Beard of Christ Covenant Church. “We actually blew up a lot bigger than we ever expected,” Beard told The Examiner. “We talked with (CNN’s) Headline News today (Oct. 15). We [...]

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Friday Favorites 10/15/10

Enter To Win 1 of 3 “Crucial Questions” Sets by R.C. Sproul – Nathan has a good RC Sproul giveaway going on. It that ends Tuesday, October 19th 2010. Confessions of a Recovering Legalist – Bob Gonzales shares a healthy dose of repentance for all of us. Matt Chandler: The Village Church, Flower Mound, Texas [...]

Walking Through the Valley of Vision – Joe Thorn offers a way to enrich your prayer life. I love the idea! Why Pastors Fall Into Moral Sin – JD Greear re-posts some insights on this topic given the recent sexual allegations against Bishop Eddie Long. Why I Can’t Stand Justin Bieber – Carla explains why. [...]

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A Six-Word Memoir of the Christian Life

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a six word short story. The result was: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” That’s quite a story in six words. Along that line of thought, SMITH Magazine, who believes everyone has a story, challenges people to tell theirs in six words or less. [...]

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Friday Favorites 09/24/10

Engaging the Culture – Phil Johnson offers a biblical view of cultural engagement. Calvin the Evangelist – An article by Dr. Frank James explaining the missional aspects of John Calvin’s work for the gospel. Justin Taylor on a ‘tragic mistake’ – WorldMag’s Mickey McLean posts Justin Taylor’s response to Andrée Seu’s seeming embrace that Mormon [...]

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Ethics: Aborting Your Anencephalic Baby

What would you do Wednesday! You and your spouse have found out in the last few weeks that the child with whom you are pregnant has been diagnosed with anencephaly, a fatal genetics disorder in which the cerebral cortex of the brain does not develop at all. The skull is somewhat flat and quite deformed [...]

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Friday Favorites 09/17/10

Thirty Letters to Calvin, Preacher to the Genevans: And Sixty Signs of the Kingdom of the Antichrist and His Revelation Which Is Now at Hand – Michael Servetus’ Latin writings now translated and put into a 175 page book. ‘Draw Muhammad’ cartoonist changes name, goes into hiding at FBI’s insistence – Molly Norris will have [...]

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Church Greeting Teams and Hand Sanitizer: Good Idea?

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Ethics: Potential Deacon Struggling with Pornography

What would you do Wednesday! This week’s scenario involves a deacon candidate. One of your friends tells you he has been called to be a deacon. Soon he is going to meet with your pastor(s) and a few of the deacons who will talk to and evaluate his qualifications to be a deacon. The problem [...]

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Friday Favories 09/10/10

American Civil Religion and the Gospel of Jesus Christ – David Rogers shares some research and insights. A Good, New, Non-Arminian, Arminian Book – James gives more thought and insight to a review and response of Whosoever Will. The Nines – Welcome! – Frank shares the text of his talk at The Nines. Military burns [...]

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Ethics: Burn A Koran Day In Your Community

What would you do Wednesday! There has been a lot of discussion about Islam lately. As Sept. 11 approaches I can only imagine how talk of Islam will draw many emotional responses. We’ve talked a bit about the Ground Zero Mosque. Understandably, it continues to be an issue. An issue on which Christians disagree. Today’s [...]

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Friday Favorites 09/03

Disconnected Faith – My metro neighbor Leonce offers some advice for Christians feeling disconnected from God. Is There a Hole in our Gospel? – Andrew reviews this book and finds some troubling theology. Prairie Memories: Songs of Home, Life and Faith – This is a new CD from my friend Clyde Bauman. You can hear [...]

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Ethics: Excluding A Single Parent from Church Membership

What would you do Wednesday! The scenario is that a single mother is a member of your local church. For several years she seemed to be living faithfully for Christ. She was present on Sunday morning and often during other church events. It was difficult for her at times and the church even helped her [...]

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Thoughts on Moore on Glenn Beck and the Gospel

Glenn Beck as been a recent driving force for (neo?) Conservative politics in America. His big push is to bring God back to the center of American life both politically and socially. I understand his sentiment. There is a sense in which I agree. In recent times when Glenn Beck has spoken on the issue [...]

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Friday Favorites 08/27

Giveaway: A Pastor’s Sketches by Ichabod Spencer – Don’t forget about the giveaway! Reinvesting Pain – A week late on my part, but Rozie gives another well written, insightful piece on suffering. (In case you miss the sermon she linked to – it’s here.) Kiss Me? Addressing God in Worship – Matt Redman encourages us [...]

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Don’t Waste Your Life Sentence Livestream Tonight

Don’t Waste Your Life Sentence Voices from the Louisiana State Penitentiary This video will be streamed live tonight at 7:30 CT/ 8:30 EST. Click here for the live stream location. I’m looking forward to it. If you want to know more about this powerful trailer, below is the description from the Desiring God website. The [...]

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The Ground Zero Mosque An Artificial Controversy?

There has been some interesting back and forth in Christians and the Ground Zero Mosque. I’m not sure a consensus will ever be reached even by Christians. Meanwhile, a friend sent me an article that offers another perspective on the Ground Zero Mosque. It’s from the Independent Institute whose mission is to boldly advance peaceful, [...]

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Friday Favorites 08/20

United States Marines duped by pretend jihadist, Ergun Caner -Jason provides videos of two training sessions that Ergun Caner gave to the U.S. Marines on April 15, 2005. I wonder if those who criticized Driscoll for his language will follow suit with Caner. Clearing the Smoke – Joe clears the smoke and shares the gospel [...]

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Driscoll: Discerning the Current Vampire-esque Teen Books

What books are being promoted for teens and pre-teens to read these days? Better yet, what books are they actually reading? Are there underlying spiritual issues involved? How do parents handle it? Are parents discerning enough? As a parent, I am concerned. This brings me to Mark Driscoll’s video below. I appreciate what he has [...]

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Update: Christians and the Ground Zero Mosque

UPDATE: Daniel linked an article by Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah, two Muslims who are on the board of the Muslim Canadian Congress, entitled – Mischief in Manhattan: We Muslims know the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation. This article shows that there are atleast some vocal Muslims who get it. [...]

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Frank Turek Refutes Judge Walker’s 10 Gay Marriage “Facts”

Frank Turek of CrossExamined offers a refutation of 10 of Judge Vaughn Walker’s finding of “facts” used to overturn Proposition 8 in order to legalize gay marriage. Turek writes – Second, Prop. 8 doesn’t violate the Fourteenth Amendment because every person in America already has equal marriage rights. We’re all playing by the same rules [...]

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Friday Favorites 08/13

Giant Brazilian Temple Replica Panned as ‘Mockery’ – A controversial Brazilian Pentecostal church plans to build a $200 million Holy Temple replica. What Do I Have to Believe to Be Saved? – John Piper answers the question. Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943 – An awesome photo blog from the Denver Post. Christian-Themed Movies in [...]

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Does Literally Carrying A Cross Spread The Gospel?

‘Deeds, not creeds’ brings a connotation with it that Christians’ actions carry more weight than their verbalized beliefs. An older, more popular version is the out of context quote of Francis of Assisi – Preach the gospel always, if necessary use words. (Some question whether he really said it or not.) There is some wisdom [...]

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Will HPOA be Christianized?

The word HPOA (HOPA?) is going around the internet. Depending on who you read it either means ‘someone who is half-Japanese‘ (HOPA version), ‘highly professional office assistant’ or something else that is going around the web that is more vulgar. I’m not sure if the half-Japanese reference is meant to be insulting or not. Please [...]

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May Christians Vote Using Religious Principles?

An interesting conversation has been taking place in one of the comment threads. The back and forth is between an atheist and a Christian. Another atheist recently stopped by to comment. His name is Quinlan and he made some assertions to the Christian, Howard, in that thread. Quinlan objected to Howard using “religious principles” from [...]

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Friday Favorites 08/06 Anniversary Special

First, today is my 5th wedding anniversary! So it’s special. How does my wonderful wife manage? Maybe this limerick will help her. I know you can’t believe that it’s been five years. But you made it through without many tears. Since it’s all foreordained, just pretend that you’ve gained. It will help get you through [...]

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Art! Drama! Worship?

J.D. Greear has written Artistry, Excellence, and the Mission in which he asks – What is the role of artistic excellence in a local church’s “production”? This is not a new question in today’s culture. Nor will it be going away anytime soon. The production factor in the lives of Americans continues to increase. Millions [...]

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Robbery Ends After Talk of Jesus

Wow! Christians seem to have a tough time talking about Jesus in everyday causal settings, but at gunpoint? During a robbery? I wonder how many others would react this way. Makes me wonder a lot of things… Are you convicted? (HT: Ray Ortlund)

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Friday Favorites 07/30

Forsake Not The Assembling – Ben Davis offers a great quote from John Owen on the importance of coming together for corporate worship. identifying “anti-adoptionistic” corruptions of scripture – Rafael Rodriguez critiques Bart Ehrman’s remarks on anti-adoptionistic corruptions of Scripture. Vitaminwater Isn’t Healthy, Rules Federal Judge – The title of this article By Carey Alexander [...]

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Hell, Are You Offended?

Last week I mentioned that Christianity Gives Atheism Life. Some atheists have gained much by their push against a God they don’t believe exists. In a similar vein, some people who don’t believe in hell are offended when others believe they are headed that way. Why?

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Christianity Gives Atheism Life

hristianity sure gives many atheists something to live for. This can be seen by the way many atheists argue, debate, write, sue, form societies and organizations, etc. all to fight against God. But it is God that drives these actions! Some atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have become famous for their beliefs. [...]

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I Write Like Who?

There is a cool new site called I Write Like which allows you to – “Check which famous writer you write like with this statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers.” Many people who write desire to become better at it. I’m [...]

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Ethics: Unwanted Pregnancy

What would you do Wednesday! A fifteen year old girl was invited by your daughter to a youth outreach event at your church. Her boyfriend had just broken up with her. She was really upset and needed to get away and thought a church event would be something nice to go to. The gospel was [...]

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Ethics: To Pray In Jesus Name Or Not?

What would you do Wednesday! Consider being in a situation similar to that of Pastor Baity when he was recently fired for praying in Jesus name. Baity got to say one prayer before the N.C. House, but then he was not invited back. He is protesting his firing and the N.C. House prayer guidelines are [...]

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Fired In Jesus Name?

On May 31, Pastor Ron Baity was relieved of his Chaplaincy prayer duties before the N.C. House of Representatives after he prayed in Jesus name. Baity is the pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem and was filling in as a guest Chaplain. I first read this story from FOXNews’ article Pastor Yanked From Capitol [...]

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A Sign of Judgment Day?

Someone is always predicting the end of the world. It reminds me of the chorus from that Telsa song Signs. Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

My wife and I watched the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas this past weekend. In a way it was sort of fitting that we watched it during the Fourth of July weekend. The movie was a great reminder of the freedoms of this great Nation. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is set [...]

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Will A Christian Nation Earn God’s Favor?

Dr. Michael Youssef answers the questions, “How can you say America is a Christian Nation? How can a country be Christian?” in Can there be a Christian nation? He answers that it is the individuals, not a country or culture, that are Christian. He explains that people refer to America’s Christian heritage by the moral [...]

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The Political Gospel of Glenn Beck and Liberty University?

Glenn Beck recently gave the Commencement Speech at Liberty University’s 2010 graduation. In light of Liberty’s statements of being Christ-centered and how this relates to their goals, mission, vision, etc. I wrote critiquing Beck’s speech in Liberty University, Glenn Beck and the Gospel. Beck’s speech had more theology than some sermons in the pulpit on [...]

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SB1070: Take illegal immigrant to church, get arrested?

Is it possible to get arrested for driving an illegal immigrant to a church service under Arizona law SB1070? This is what E. J. Montini proposes at The Arizona Republic in his article Church, state clash coming under SB 1070. Montini begins: “The first person arrested under SB 1070 might not be an illegal immigrant, [...]

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Father to Father to Father

A Father’s Day Limerick At this time of year I’m not sure what to say, A time to honor dads in a special way. So I think really hard End up buying a card, All just to say “Happy Father’s Day!” I wrote that limerick for my father inside his Father’s Day card. It’s hard [...]

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Touchdown Jesus delay of game

A huge statue of Jesus, some call Touchdown Jesus due to the way the arms are raised signaling a touchdown, will be delayed in fulfilling its original purposes. As the AP reports: 6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning. “MONROE, Ohio — A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised along a [...]

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Christoga: Christian Yoga?

So, I’m browsing Netflix. I search the term “Christian” just to see what comes up. One of the results that comes up is Christoga: Christian Yoga. Apparently, I missed the boat on this by a few years. It’s dated 2007. I’m sitting there wondering if I had been transported to bizarre-o land. Well, maybe I [...]

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Liberty University, Glenn Beck and the Gospel

On April 23, 2010 Liberty University announced that Glenn Beck would deliver the Commencement speech for Liberty University’s Class of 2010. The graduation took place on Saturday, May 15. Beck’s speech can be viewed online at The Rightscoop. Success came early for Beck when just before his speech, Liberty conferred an honorary Doctorate of Humanities [...]

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Twitter is down! Can life go on?

At the time of this post Twitter has been down for 60 minutes. The Twitter Status site says there are site availability issues: We are experiencing site availability issues — additional latency and errors — this morning. We’re working to address these issues. A mere 60 minutes can seem like a life time for those [...]

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Black Church White Church

Below is a hip-hop song dealing with something we are all familiar with. Racial segregation on Sunday morning in our local churches. The song is from Voice’s new album Christ the King. Black Church White Church by avoice Below is the third verse of the song. Whatever version of American English you speak, whatever your

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A Memorial Day Prayer

Heavenly Father, as an American, thank you for this great country. I am not proud, but humbled, that in Your sovereignty I was born in such a Nation. Thank You for those serving in the military that you have used to help raise up and protect America. Thank you for those men and women in [...]

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Mercy Ministry: Church or World?

In 2006, Modern Reformation Magazine provided two articles from a series entitled Mercy Ministries: Two Perspectives. The articles were written by William H. Smith and Randy Nabors. I’ve numbered them I and II, respectively, and linked them below with selective quotes and bullet points. In article I, Smith argues that the mercy ministry of the [...]

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A note on selfishness

How many times does a mother say,”Billy, share your toys with Bobby” or “Bobby, you musn’t grab toys from Billy like that”? As Billy and Bobby grow older, they learn that such obvious acts of selfishness are socially unacceptable, so their selfish acts become more subtle, but

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Is Islam special?

Emily Belz at World Magazine writes a feature about Islam in The special religion. The article is worth a read. Special or not, there seems to be a level of special treatment for Islam. Several things stand out and are a bit disturbing. One of them is cowardice in the FBI toward Islam. Cowardice? Really?

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My take: On fear, faith and being a sinner

The CNN Belief Blog recently published My Take: On fear, faith and being gay by Jennifer Knapp. So I thought I’d give my take. As a young boy I learned to take risks. Climbing trees and jumping ramps on a bicycle will do that to a boy. Falling down from a tree or flying off [...]

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All things to all people?

First, go to Seeker-centered Buddhism and watch the modern outreach methods some Buddhists are using today. Would that inspire you to become a Buddhist? Now watch the video below. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c God Smacked www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party Would that inspire [...]

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Vindication of popular ministers

How dare you speak of him that way! Do you know who he is? Do you know what he’s done for the Kingdom? Look at all the people he’s ministered to! So goes the argument. It’s been stated before. It’ll be stated again. It recently reared its head in the blogosphere. But what argument is [...]

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Ethics question: Capital Punishment Vote

The death penalty has been in the news recently. A tough subject to be sure. Consider the three recent news stories below and then the ethical question on the issue. High Court refuses to hear appeal of woman on death row – Linda Carty was convicted of the 2001 murder of Joana Rodriguez in Texas. [...]

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Three Questions

As I consider my upcoming attendance in the 2010 Band of Bloggers, the topic Internet Idolatry and Gospel Fidelity really stick out in my mind. Why? Because it’s so easy to create idols using the internet and live in infidelity to the gospel. Is this especially so over the internet? Maybe. Which brings me to [...]

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Open letter to Miley Cyrus

I was recently directed to an interview with Miley Cyrus in Parade. The interview reveals some thoughts on her move away from a young star branded as Hanna Montana into maturity and a more private life. More revealing is the fact that she was baptized in a Southern Baptist church in 2005 and gives some [...]

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Don’t vote for Pedro!

Vote for me! Please? Join in the Southern Baptist blogger fun – click here: SBC Blog Madness 2010 and go to the West Division and vote for Here I Blog! I will really appreciate your help as I’ve got some tough competition. If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true. [...]

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Thinking about American Christianity

What do you think of when you think of American Christianity and the American church? Just stop and think about that for a moment before reading further. Think a little more… OK, ready? Below is a quote from

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How often church attendance?

In a recent post I asked two questions in relation to the Super Bowl and church attendance. The comment thread turned into a debate over Sabbatarianism and the place of the Lord’s Day in the Christian’s life. This is understandable to a point, yet I did receive some off-line comments which would have added to [...]

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Church attendance and the Super Bowl: two questions

Every year during the Super Bowl the question of church attendance arises. Should a person skip church for the Super Bowl? If he/she skips their regular Sunday evening church service are they sinning? There seem to be two main positions on this. Those who are more sabbatarian minded fall along the lines of a person [...]

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Defining Missional

What exactly does the term missional mean? Attempts to answer this question can be found in books, videos, sermons, blog posts, theological ejournals, conference presentations, magazine articles, etc. Depending on who you ask will depend on the answer which may be good, bad or ugly. You get to decide which is which. Where do we [...]

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Poll: Does “success” mean God is honoring a ministry?

Many times a ministry/person is defended, regardless of their teachings, because they are popular or successful. Not only are ministries defend as such, but they also come to a place where they can do no wrong. They might be betrayed as above any type of criticism or biblical correction. Such ministries might be defended in [...]

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Seeker-centered Buddhism

Buddhism’s numbers are apparently shrinking. They aren’t growing. They’re answer? Hip-hop and alcohol? “This is an old, old story, a fantasy and longing cosmology. Hey, hey, what’s the story about? It’s about the Buddha, yo. Hey brother, listen carefully! You got it? No? You don’t? Okay, baby, no problem.” That is one hip-hop (can we [...]

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A letter to Francis Chan

In Francis Chan’s sermon Beware of Good Liars, he reads a letter from a single mother seeking his advice. I’m curious how others would respond. I won’t comment yet. Just read it. Pastor Francis, I made a covenant promise to a ministry [a TV ministry] in January for $100 a month. I’m a single mom [...]

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True aim of Roman Catholic ecumenism

Ecumenism today can be seen in social/political change in the name of the ‘greater good’. Or in doctrinal statements drafted and signed by different “Christian” sects. When dealing with such issues many Protestants speak up when it seems the Gospel is at stake. Other Protestants don’t always take to kindly to this. It seems no [...]

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Was Jesus a victim?

Taking the position of the victim is a popular offensive today. It is a way to turn the tables and draw sympathy from others. Kevin DeYoung posted a great article on this very subject – Why Are We So Offended All the Time? (cross-post). In his post he made the following statement. As Christians, we [...]

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New Year’s Unity

On January 1, 1865, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon entitled True Unity Promoted. Given the recent disagreements over signing The Manhattan Declaration this is a very interesting sermon on unity. In the first paragraph Spurgeon states, “It is an old saying that England never prospers so well as when the Pope curses her. I hope [...]

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Merry Christmas: Christ is King

Santa has come once again. He comes in Jesus’ name. If there were no Christmas there would be no Santa. Yet, Santa remains popular regardless. The Christ in Christmas is Jesus. Yet, it is Santa who gets the focus and even makes the cover of The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 24th). Why is Santa so [...]

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Convert or die?

I’ve often wondered if Christians in the USA have freedom to their detriment. There are so many churches that they can leave one for another for whatever reason they like. Many start campaigns and stand against national department stores for not saying Merry Christmas. It is easy to complain about the world not holding to [...]

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A Few Christmas Gift Ideas

I wanted to throw out a few Christmas gift ideas. Like comedy? From Christians even? Here are two with different styles. A friend of mine known as Mylo Hatzenbuhler, The Original Rock and Roll Farmboy, offers a very unique style of musical comedy. A wonderful singer when serious, yet ready to entertain you! A different, [...]

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I am Tiger Woods

‘I am Tiger Woods’ is a popular slogan repeated by several kids in a Nike commercial. Given Woods’ recent transgressions that phrase is even more true today. Except the adults are missing. GASP?! It’s true, as I mentioned in Tiger Woods and the cross, he is just like the rest of us. I am not [...]

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On serving others

Fellow Southern Baptist and blogger Trevin Wax tweeted something today that really stuck. The world estimates your importance by how many people are serving YOU. God estimates your importance by how many people YOU are serving. First, the world does measure one’s importance by their popularity in one vein or another. Tiger Woods is a [...]

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Congregational Prayer Requests

Can asking for prayer ever be a burden? That might sound like a strange question. It just might be right now, but hear me out. I am not talking about prayer requests that turn into gossip. Those requests that ask for prayer for uncle Bill’s and aunt Martha’s marriage only to go on to give [...]

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Internet fellowship

The internet can be used for good, bad, stupid, indifferent, etc. like many things in life. The more sinful people get involved with these things the more we mess them up. Please, don’t look around the internet. Take my word for it. Funny, we still cannot stand in God’s way. God sovereignly works through the [...]

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Church is boring

Church is boring. Right? No matter what setting one is in the same basic activities are done each worship service. Sing, pray, Scripture reading, announcements, some sort of preaching, fellowship. Did I mention singing? However a worship service is set-up it is most likely going to be similar week after week. Even if worship time [...]

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Thanksgiving Grace

Life. It is busy and demanding. Each day can bring new challenges. Some easy and routine. Some hard. Others life changing. How these challenges and demands are received can make all the difference in one’s attitude and thought life. During this time around Thanksgiving Day every year people are asked to think about life and [...]

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To Sign Or Not To Sign

To sign or not to sign the Manhattan Declaration(MD)? That… is a good question. For the most part it seems to have been received on a positive note. There has been some push back though. For example, Albert Mohler felt the need to explain why he signed the MD. Fellow blogger Frank Turk explained why [...]

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Do Scott Hahn’s Book Endorsements Offer Protestants Validity?

Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI by Scott Hahn has a few Protestant endorsements. The biggest stir was caused by Michael Horton’s endorsement. People are asking – Why endorse such a book? Would the Apostle Paul have endorsed a book on metaphysics by Aristotle? Dr. Horton has responded in his post [...]

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Christmas On 20 Bucks

You might be thinking – Can I really do Christmas for 20 bucks? Yes, you can. You can do it for someone else. Children. Children in need. The Christmas list for these children does not include an Xbox, Wii, iPhone, Karaoke machine, laptop, remote controlled helicopter, a robot, DVD, etc. etc. They will not complain [...]

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Poll: Can Evangelism Be An Idol?

In An Idol Called Evangelism Dr. Roy Hargrave states that evangelism rather than the glory of God is driving many churches today. That might be too strong a position for some to fathom. Maybe unbiblical for others. It is not often that evangelism is spoken of in terms of idolatry. It is an uncomfortable question. [...]

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A la blog list 10/23 Update

Reformation Day UPDATE! In celebration of Reformation Day The Listener’s Bible is offering a FREE down load of Martin Luther’s – Here I Stand read by Max McLean. David Powlison helps with how to break porn addiction – Part 1 and Part 2. Jonathan says to Beware Your Seminary Professors, they are not your church [...]

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Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

Today is Blog Action Day 2009. The topic this year is climate change. The most talked about in this area may be global warming. Global warming is here to stay. The question becomes – What are we going to do about it? Global warming is here, but not necessarily in a literal sense. It exists [...]

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One Nation Under A Mormon God?

The painting One Nation Under God by Jon McNaughton promotes a Mormon author. My initial reaction to the painting was that another Christian is using Jesus and the Bible for political propaganda. It seems I was wrong. The evidence points to the artist, Jon McNaughton, as being a Mormon. The name Jon McNaughton can also [...]

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Poll: Does Christian Hip-Hop Harm the Gospel?

My friend and brother Nathan and I have had a short twitter discussion on whether Christian hip-hop harms the Gospel. This issue came up in reference to Mark Dever’s recent interview with Christian rappers Shai Linne and Voice. I actually interviewed Christian hip-hop Artist Sho Baraka. Then, I attended the the Don’t Waste Your Life [...]

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Gospel Then Morality: Lesson From Abortion Counseling

What can Christians learn about the Gospel and change from abortion counseling? I recently attended a fundraiser for Cobb Pregnancy Services (CPS). It was a great night of fellowship and celebration of what God is doing at this organization. A young pregnant lady gave her testimony of how God used CPS to convince her to [...]

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Tullian Tchividjian to Stay at Coral Ridge: Lessons?

Tullian Tchividjian will stay as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church per a congregational vote of 69%-31% this morning. “I’m staying!!,” wrote pastor Tchividjian in the title of today’s blog post about the future of his pastoral role at Coral Ridge.The pressure on this new pastor must have been unbelievable in anticipation of this vote. [...]

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Book Review: Christianity in Crisis The 21st Century

Christianity In Crisis: The 21st Century By Hank Hanegraaff. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009. 432 pages. Hank Hanegraaff has updated the 1993 edition of Christianity in Crisis to keep up with the “Word of Faith” movement and its teachers. The author exposes the continued growth and danger of these teachings. The book is divided into seven [...]

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Westboro Baptist Revealed: Evangelized, Interviewed, Reviewed (Updated)

If the messages on the signs are not disturbing enough, how about the people holding them? They are children! My heart breaks to see a picture like this just hoping it is a photo-shopped picture. Unfortunately, it is not. Last week I wrote Westboro Baptist To Share Hate In Atlanta to give folks a heads [...]

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Poll: Should Christians Just Say No?

Should Christians feel guilty about just saying ‘no‘ when asked to do something for the church/member? When the answer is ‘no‘ is an explanation needed? Do you feel an explanation is demanded? Do you feel like you’re sinning if you just say ‘no‘? Do you feel the need to explain every detail of the last [...]

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Great Night: Don’t Waste Your Life Concert

Thanks to Lecrae for the video below. You can hear everyone yelling, “Send me. I’ll go.” It was an awesome night! We took some of our youth group and they really enjoyed it. Even one of my pastors was there who is a few generations removed from the hip-hop era. It was a good night [...]

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Lord Kill Me If I Don’t Preach the Gospel

So I’m driving. I hear “Lord kill me If I don’t preach the gospel.” What? Did I hear that right? Rewind! Again. Yep! That line really hit me. It made me think. Imagine singing that in church to the tune of Amazing Grace. This was not from a hymn though. (Maybe we can add it [...]

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Senator Ted Kennedy Dies at 77

Senator Kennedy has left this world to face whatever is next on his path. He was 77 years old. Was he really old? He wasn’t young. Life is fleeting. It’s here today and you wonder where yesterday went. I have almost 40 years before I reach 77, if the Lord so allows. Seems like a [...]

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Writing Opportunity with Examiner.com

Examiner.com currently reaches 110 cities across the county. It is a growing community with a national reach. This is done through the many local examiners it employees through those 110 cities. The examiners cover issues in each city under 25 different topics. They have openings so I applied. Guess what happened? I are one now! [...]

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Les Paul Will Strum On

The great Les Paul has passed away at 94 years old. He leaves behind a list of accomplishments and a name that will seemingly never fade away until the Lord’s return. He left quite a legacy. Even up to the end where he won two Grammys for an album he released after his 90th birthday [...]

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Free Hip-Hop Mixtape from Reach Records

There is a hip-hop (rap music for you older folks) movement that is reaching places with the Gospel that the traditional church has not gone. Much of the music is filled with deep theological lyrics that shame much of modern praise music. I’ve pointed out two examples of such lyrics in the past. One on [...]

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A La Blog 8/4

Just for fun. Are dogs smarter than cats? Dr. Britta Osthaus says yes. Dogs win after conducting three tests using string. The string probably threw the cats off. Unfortunately, Southern Baptist news of NAMB president removal hit’s the Atlanta Journal. The secular news makes us sound too much like a big business. The Gospel could [...]

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De-baptism Thoughts

The title of a recent USA Today article says it all Atheists choose ‘de-baptism’ to renounce childhood faith. I’m not sure that Hemingway could have said it better. When a person becomes a Christian they repent and believe the Gospel. There is a renunciation of the previous life and a proclamation that we belong to [...]

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Write Your Own Message Bible

What do I mean write your own Message Bible? First, The Message Bible is a paraphrase Bible written by Eugene Peterson. I’ve often found myself gently saying, “It’s not a translation it’s a paraphrase” when references to The Message would come up. Many folks like The Message. To a point that’s fine if it’s used [...]

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Happy 500 John Calvin

Today is John Calvin’s 500th birthday. (See cake at left) Whatever our disagreements with Calvin it cannot be denied that Protestants (everyone?) owe much to his theological study. God certainly gifted him in areas many of us only wish our minds could go. Calvin was more than a mind though. He had deeds along with [...]

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Book Review: Godology

Godology: Because Knowing God Changes Everything By Christian George. Moody Publishers, January 1, 2009. 176 pages. What first caught my attention about this book was the foreward by J.I. Packer. Right away this made me want to look further into Godology. Godology is a book explaining the attributes of God in more modern terms. The [...]

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Fourth of July Note and Blog Agenda

As I get ready to travel for the Fourth of July weekend I wanted to give an update on what’s coming up on the blog. I also want to make a brief note on the Fourth of July. By the way, prayers for our travel safety would be much appreciated. Fourth of July Note When [...]

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Gospel Coalition or Assertions?

David Fitch has asked if we agree or disagree with his views on the work of The Gospel Coalition (TGC). His views are expressed at Christianity Today’s Out of Ur blog post: Gospel Coalition or Expedition? How effective will The Gospel Coalition be in post-Christendom? One of the problems with Fitch’s approach can be seen [...]

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Be Happy God Says

Did you know that God commands you to be happy? Serve the LORD with gladness! Psalm 100:2 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 The best news in the world is that there is no conflict between your greatest possible happiness and God’s perfect holiness. [...]

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Fatherhood: Appreciation, Humility, Ministry, Reflections

Another year. Another Father’s Day. A useless holiday that we made up to spur the economy i.e. to get people to spend money. That’s just about what I used to think anyways. Not so much anymore. Today when I think of Father’s Day I think of my father, myself as a father and my heavenly [...]

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Who Is Watching Your Life?

Ride to Live, Live to Ride is the motto you’ll find on biker t-shirts. It’s really a cool saying. The motto can be changed to reflect whatever is primary in your life from riding motorcycles to sports to your job. In reality the motto is about self. The primacy of me we might say. So [...]

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Should “Celebrity” Pastors Offer Disclaimers?

Warning. Caution. Disclaimer. These are popular words. We see them on everything and everywhere today. They are good, bad, indifferent and life saving. Should we have something of those words at our Christian conferences where “celebrity” pastors and theologians speak? Maybe. There are many good, Gospel-centered conferences offered these days. I was at one of [...]

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Advance09 Makes Local News

How awesome is it to for a Christian conference to make the local news? The final day was good. I’m too tired to write out any notes. I hope to have some final reflections on the event soon. I was certainly blessed by the messages and fellowship. Check out the news story. There’s about 2,900 [...]

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Advance09 Day Two

Today was day two at Advance09 here in Durham, NC. It was another good day. To catch up you can find all of the uploaded audio for you to download here: Advance09 Session MP3′s. Order of Events

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Advance09 Day One

I’m having a great time at the Advance09 Conference. A great time of learning and conviction. I’m rooming with a brother named Kris from NC who also put some notes up. I’m going to give you today’s line-up and some highlights from my notes. You can go over to DesiringGod.org and download The First Three [...]

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Book Review and Giveaway: Taking Three

Yesterday, I interviewed Mark McCallum, author of the novel Taking Three. Check out the interview if you haven’t. Today, I will provide a short review and a way for readers to get a free, signed copy. Review Taking Three by Mark R McCallum. Sense of Wonder Press. Rockville, 2008. 256 pages. Comedian Robin Williams once [...]

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Interview with Mark McCallum Author of Taking Three

Today we’ll be talking to Mark R. McCallum. He is the author of the new book Taking Three, a supernatural thriller about Death coming in threes. Mark is a brother in the Lord, friend and fellow church member. He serves us every Sunday morning by arriving extra early to make sure the coffee is brewed [...]

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Dynamite Sermon Illustrations

As the story goes, we get our word dynamite from the Greek word dunamis. Dunamis means power. This can be a powerful illustration in a sermon where we read about the power of God in the Bible. We can actually see the dynamite of God! Powerful! Right?

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Considering Death

Do you consider death? After death? It’s not the most comfortable thing to think about even for Christians. It’s even tougher to talk about. There is one such talk that you want to hear, Rachel Barkey’s.

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Kindle My Blog

I thought I’d try out Amazon’s new and really cool service. That is, the ability to add your personal blog to Kindle. Yes, there is now a Kindle edition of this blog. I’m sure I’ll be retiring tomorrow from all the subscriptions! If you can afford a Kindle I’m sure the $.99/month won’t kill you. [...]

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Bodies The Exhibition Visit

It was something my family wanted to do. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to though. I almost felt like I would be observing something wrong. The thought of going made me uncomfortable. Well, I ended up going anyway. This past Saturday I took the family to visit the Bodies: The Exhibition gallery. It was [...]

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Memorial Day 2009 Worship Service

It was a mostly normal Sunday morning. My wife and I left for church wondering if it would happen. It did. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. The National Anthem was sung. Everyone stood. We sat. It was uncomfortable, I admit.

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Dear President Obama – No!

Amen! Spread the word. The world needs to watch.

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Angels and Demons A Novel Idea

The folks at Westminster Seminary have shined some light for truth. They’ve put together a great new site responding to the movie “Angels and Demons” based on Dan Brown’s novel. The site is The Truth About Angels & Demons.

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A La Blog 5/15

Michael DeBusk asks if Henry Blackaby is right about evangelism? I don’t think he is. What do you think? Jim Duggan wants to know that at which you’re staring. Is it Jesus? It better be! (BTW, who ever heard of Ty Ty, Georgia?) Eric Carpenter stumbles upon a crack pot King James Only website. This [...]

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Blog Relaunch With Thesis DIY Theme

So I decided to re-design my blog. I’ve thought about it for a while. I wasn’t sure. I went for it! I decided to go with a new theme, new look and change the name. New Theme I looked and looked and looked some more for a new WordPress theme. I finally decided to go [...]

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Uncommon Prayer Requests

It’s Sunday morning. Sunday School has started. It’s time for prayer requests. What do you think about? What is your prayer request going to be? The common habit is to ask for healing for illness, disease, broken limbs, etc. These are good prayer requests. However, we can expand our prayer lives. There are greater things [...]

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Book Review: The Noticer by Andy Andrews

The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective by Andy Andrews. Thomas Nelson Publishers. The Noticer is a great story about a mysterious man named Jones. The story is set in a small town where Jones is about helping people with their lives’ perspectives. I appreciated how the story moved along. It [...]

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Wanna Be A Christian Blogger?

Well, do ya? Fellow blogger Matt Svoboda, and soon to be co-blogger (sshh!), is looking for some folks to contribute to two blogs. The first is SBC Voices where Matt just took over as editor. (Congratulations!) SBC Voices is looking for theologically conservative Southern Baptist contributors. Second, is Evangelical Village which is a community blog [...]

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Prayer and Devotion Online

I can’t believe that I will have been blogging for five years come June 2009. Blogs and websites come and go. I’m not sure how or even why I’ve perservered so far. Looking back, I’ve come a long way. Looking ahead, I’ve got a long way to go. Two Quick Items There are so many [...]

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Upcoming Book Review And Project

I have a few book reviews on the way. The next one up is not the typical book I would read. The book is The Noticer: Sometimes, All A Person Needs Is A Little Perspective By best selling author, Andy Andrews. I received my review copy from Thomas Nelson last week and will be releasing [...]

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Life of a Watchblogger

I just couldn’t resist. And the HT goes to Frank. It’s his fault. Oh, there are watchbloggers covering every area of life not just Christianity. (Original source)

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10 Reasons You Might Be A Watchblogger If

There is a lot of commotion going on with my fellow bloggers Challies, TeamPyro and Campi writing about what are called “watchbloggers”. In addition to my Rick Warren Did Not Lie post I offer this “10 Reasons” list. 10 Reasons you might be a watchblogger if… 10. You constantly Google yourself. 9. You Google your [...]

Sin sells, but who’s buying? If we were to answer this question based on the recent success of Katy Perry today vs. Katy Perry Hudson several years ago, I’d say that many are buying. Just consider the two Christianity Today articles from back in 2001 and today in 2008. It seems as though Hudson, though [...]

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Faith and Reason

Without faith reasoning becomes impossible. So do I believe this on the basis of reason or faith? Well, it all depends on how you want to state it. I believe it on the basis of faith, but faith which saves reasoning and, therefore, it’s the most reasonable thing to do. So that’s my reason for [...]

Family Christian is selling this little number for $9.99. Isn’t that great? I really hesitated to include the link, but I did least someone think I made this up. The marketing of Christianity is unbelievable today. I told my wife and she was disgusted. She wondered how someone could say this and added that dying [...]

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Southern Baptists Building Bridges: Reflections

The Building Bridges Conference was a great experience. By now most people probably know that the audio is online at Lifeway.com and presentations are available at Ed Stetzer’s blog. I would have gotten to this sooner, but I could not get my friends router to connect with my wireless card. I decided not to try [...]

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Southern Baptist Building Bridges Pic of the Week

I just want to give a quick update since I am back home and about to go to church. I will hopefully have a larger post sharing some thoughts on the conference. I talked to Ed Stetzer just before I left and he said he had all ready posted this pic, but that’s okay. He [...]

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Piper responds to Witherington

John Piper responds to Ben Witherington about God being a narcissist. Piper says that Witherington’s conclusion is “astonishing for five reasons”. Read it. God’s Loving Self-Exaltation: A Response to Ben Witherington It’s encouraging that pastors like John Piper take time to respond to criticism such as this. Mark

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Georgia Baptist Blogging Resolution

Last week in Augusta, GA I was a messenger to the Georgia Baptist Convention. Two resolutions passed one on appreciation and another on blogging. Fellow Georgia Baptist blogger Roger Ferrell recently commented on this resolution over at sbc IMPACT! I pretty much agree with his observations. I also appreciate that Timmy Brister has chimed in [...]

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Muslim-led Interfaith Service Unwelcome

Fox News reports. A Muslim-led interfaith Thanksgiving service in Austin, Texas, was forced to move to another location at the last minute after a Baptist church objected to non-Christians worshipping on its property. Apparently Hyde Park Baptist Church didn’t realize that “interfaith” meant different religions rather than different Christian denominations. When the leadership realized they [...]

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Piper, Justification, ETS and Theories

A theological issue came up on Justin Taylor’s blog in his blurb about ETS from Christianity Today’s interview about ETS’s annual convention. In the interview, Francis Beckwith and the upcoming papers at ETS are mentioned about which I had my own blurb. The topic that came up on Taylor’s blog, of course, was justification and [...]

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Does Justification Matter at ETS?

Earlier this year Frank Beckwith stepped down as president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). His actions were the right thing to do as he returned to the Roman Catholic Church, IMO. But maybe I and others who agree with me were wrong. Upon reading CT’s short q&a State of the Society with ETS’s current [...]

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John MacArthur’s Truth War

I picked up The Truth War by John MacArthur on CD. So far I’ve only gotten through the first of three CDs. For the folks who think MacArthur is somehow mean and unloving maybe listening to him read his book will change your mind. For that matter, just listening to his sermons should help understand [...]

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MO Southern Baptists: Towards an Unbiblical Position

The annual Missouri Baptist Convention just wrapped up. Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that there was talk and debate about the topic of, what else, alcohol. Now I don’t know if alcohol was taking over the Missouri Baptists, but apparently, Rodney Albert of Hallsville Baptist Church has a great quote that made [...]

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Reformation Day 2007: The Sinner’s Justification

Today, we don’t hear as much about sin from the pulpit as was once popular. I’m not talking about just preaching hellfire and damnation either. I’m talking about our actual biblical stance as a sinner before a holy God. I know it’s not PC to talk about sin in such a way because it’s not [...]

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Seeker-obsessed Willow Creek Repents?

Recently, the net was buzzing about the article Willow Creek Repents? with mixed feelings. I was happy at first and then unsure. Now, BlogOManiac PyroManiac, Phil Johnson, has responded to a criticism of the style of his criticism towards Willow Creek. I, like others, think Willow Creek is just going to replace their old programs [...]

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Rain

Rain. We try not to go out in it or drive in it if we can help it. We put on special water proof clothes and use umbrellas to keep from getting wet from it. But at the same time we can’t live without the water it brings. Water is a sustainer of life and [...]

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The Weight of Gluttony No More

Not long ago I posted Southern Baptists and the Weight of Gluttony. And God has blessed me from that post through a commenter named Jane. She went through the course I listed in the above mentioned post and has a great testimony I thought should have it’s own entry and I don’t want to take [...]

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Mike Corley blogs Emergence Conference

Over at The Expositor Mike Corley has two brief posts on the 2007 Emergence Conference he just attended in Austin, TX. Mike gave his insights about days one and two. He was challenged by an emailer to give specifics of his criticisms. Mike plans on doing this on his radio show Monday which I hope [...]

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Bush vs. Carter: Theological Differences?

Very recently at Emory University former President Jimmy Carter gave a talk about faith. The difficulties of being theologian and chief international religious conflict came up. On the topic of international religious conflict, President Carter referred to his term in office. “I was president once, in ancient times,” he joked, adding, “I had some difficult [...]

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Southern Baptists, Investing and Morality

The ChristianNewsWire has an interesting story Investments In and Profits from Abortion and Pornography Loom Large for Protestants/Catholics Alike that reveals investments in companies that are somehow involved in immorality. The world’s two largest “ultra-conservative” denominations currently invest hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars in companies that profit from and/or promote what their [...]

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Worship and the Theology of the Cross In One Sentence

I just want to share some thoughts as we prepare for the Lord’s Day. Why are we going to worship the Lord tomorrow or any other day? Are we going to get an experience out of it like a trip to the zoo? Are we to seek an emotional experience like you get at the [...]

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Joel Osteen’s AIROST: Your Best Flight Now

Now this is too brilliant not to post here, especially, given my recent post about Joel Osteen which included his “confession”. AIROST: Your Best Flight Now This is my airplane: I am seated where I am supposed to be; I have what I’m supposed to have; I can do only what the flight attendants say [...]

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Habits resulting in death?

We all have habits both good, bad and indifferent. One of my habits that may fit into any of those catergories on any given night is that while channel surfing I see someone like Joel Osteen “preaching” so I stop and listen. I did this last night and just in time to hear Joel’s “This [...]

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Southern Baptists and the Weight of Gluttony

As the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting draws near a resolution on gluttony may be proposed and I hope it is. This resolution is written in the spirit of and response to last years Resolution 5 on alcohol. There have been various responses around the blogging world and then some which you can easily search [...]

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Rick Warren Vs. John Piper on the Gospel

First, I think Godtube is cool and I hope WordPress will allow their videos to be posted. I went there to see Dr. White’s videos he posted. And I also wanted to see the site after hearing about it in a news report today. I got to browse around a little. Then, I read centuri0n’s [...]

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Engage: Scot McKnight at North Point

Last Saturday I spent the morning at a seminar called Engage. It took place at North Point Community Church where Andy Stanley pastors. I got to listen to Dr. Scot McKnight speak about engaging the culture. He has blogged about the event too. First, I want to say that Scot McKnight is a man of [...]

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The T in TULIP

This is not a pleasant story to read. Just the word “castration” gives me the creeps, but a ring of this kind of homebased activity? I don’t know what is more disturbing; that something like this exists or that the participants were wanting, willing and then some. And some say there is no such thing [...]

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Mark Driscoll on the White Horse Inn

The latest White Horse Inn show features and interview with Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. The guys on the WHI are known for addressing theological issues head on. The interview was nice and cordial and it would be interesting if Driscoll were on again to tackle some more questions. Give it [...]

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N.T. Wright and Leonard Sweet and A Radio Show

It looks as if the local Atlanta Christian talk radio station 970 & 1400 AM WNIV will have at least two special guests on next week. Leonard Sweet and N.T. Wright will be interviewed on these stations on the John Young Show. Currently, there is no show archive, but the show repeats a few times [...]

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What if the Super Pastor left?

I ran into an old friend the other day. We caught up a little bit about our churches and some of the churches in the metro Atlanta area. He brought up a certain church that has three campuses in addition to its main church location. The campuses will play videos of sermons from the main [...]

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How do Americans view Mormons?

I wish the unfavorable numbers were higher, but they are better than expected as “46 percent of Americans say they have an unfavorable opinion of the Mormon religion.” So reports The Christian Post according to this article which references a Gallup poll of 1,018 people. Now get this. Liberals are more likely to have an [...]

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Will Anglicans Become Roman Catholic?

The Timesonline has reported that Churches back plan to unite under Pope. It looks as though this path may be offered as a solution to the liberalism that plagues the Anglican church. The Anglicans will attempt to resolve their differences today by publishing a new Anglican Covenant, an attempt to provide a doctrinal statement under [...]

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Is Madonna doing the work of Christians?

It is said from time to time, and maybe more frequently lately, that those doing charity work are doing the work of Christians. That Christians are not doing enough in the world to reach out to the poor and needy. That we are too judgmental of the world and it’s ways. That we should reach [...]

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The Altar Question: Southern Baptists and Others?

I have mostly heard and seen this in Southern Baptist churches. I am not talking about altar calls where unbelievers are being called forward which is another topic for another time. I am talking about going forward to pray and/or renew your commitment to Christ. I have asked about this practice before on this and [...]

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So this is Christmas

The Baptist Press has reported Poll: Americans want to see ‘Merry Christmas’ in stores. This is preferred to simply saying ‘Happy Holidays’. Wonderful, right? Yes, maybe, but why? I really wish the poll had included a “why” section. I would like to hear the reasons. I want to make a couple of general observations and [...]

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Pro-abortion: Honoring Christ’s Teachings or Obama’s?

In many news and blog articles Rick Warren is being criticized for having Senator Barack Obama speak at Saddleback’s AIDS Conference. The controversy involves Obama’s pro-abortion position which is in opposition to Warren’s position and, of course, against the biblical position. I want to take a look at a brief response by Obama from an article [...]

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I’m Thankful…

Lately, I’ve been thinking more about ways and opportunities to share the Gospel. And I do mean verbalize it with actual words that don’t begin and end with “Why don’t you come to church?” I’ve been lamenting my past and potential future short comings in this area. Sure, sharing the Gospel isn’t necessarily “easy” but [...]

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Sharing the Gospel with Buddhist

In my recent post about sharing the Gospel both Laura and Paul comment with some interesting real life examples. Laura touched on some of the things I’ve thought about when looking to put together some type of servant evangelism projects. As we reach out as a church to build and help people out in some [...]

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Politically Liberal Calvinist

Yes, I can certainly hear it now from the anti-Calvinist Southern Baptists like Falwell and whosoever else shall speak. Calvinists may now be put in the party of the liberal democrats in an attempt to further discredit our theology. Below is a quote from one of Eric Sapp’s posts in which he claims his Calvinism. Sapp formerly worked [...]

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Thanksgiving Day 2006

As I thought about making a Thanksgiving Day post I really wasn’t sure where to go with it. I have so much to be thankful for, but it’s so much easier to look at all that I “want” that I don’t “have” rather than looking at all that I “have” that I don’t “need”. Isn’t [...]

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Jesse Mercer’s Eternal Concerns of a Slave

In Nathan Finn’s recent post 19th Century Baptists, Slavery, and Christian Civility: Some Lessons from the Past in he tells of a new book he is about to publish entitled Domestic Slavery Considered as a Scriptural Institution. Read his post for more information. It’s looks to be an interesting read and will shed some light [...]

In a recent Barna Group article the title One-Quarter of Self-Described Born Again Adults Rely On Means Other Than Grace to Get to Heaven says it all. It’s an interesting read. The article states Overall, 80% of adults in the U.S. call themselves “Christian.” In comparison, the phrase “a committed Christian” is embraced by two [...]

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50 Cent 50 Shekel

One of my co-workers sent me something about Jewish hip-hop yesterday. I just remembered tonight that one of these groups was called “50 Shekel” so I googled it. Here is some of his testimony. MY TESTIMONY Note: For those of you who have already read this page before I put this note up and made [...]

Update: If you happen upon this page please see the blog relaunch and redesign post for an update – Blog Relaunch With Thesis DIY Theme. As I was thinking of a name for the blog I asked the folks I was chatting with in #prosapologian. My friend TheHinge came up with names like “TheologicalGRITS” while [...]

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