Jul 30, 2005 | General Theology
From Voice of the Martyrs: This week at the Baptist World Centenary Congress Baptist leaders around the globe shared stories of being persecuted for their faith. Some of the reports of persecution included church burnings in South Asia and Christians being deported from Western Europe. However, the good news is that YOU and I can do things to support these persecuted believers. We can pray for them daily. You can let your church know about the persecuted and educate your church. And you can share information that ministries that specialize and focus on the persecuted send out. Check out VOM’s blog. I’ve begun syndicating... read more
Jul 28, 2005 | Culture
Albert Mohler posts a distrubing note about the abortion industry in Great Britain. Many troubling quotes come from this article, but one struck me this morning. According to a representative of the leading abortion provider in Great Britain, “Motherhood is just one among many options open to women and it is not surprising that younger women want to prioritise other things. We should stop seeing abortion as a problem and start seeing it as a legitimate and sensible solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancy.” This is precisely what the Apostle Paul was referring to in 1 Timothy 2:15 when he says, “but women will be preserved [lit. saved] through the bearing of children, if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.” Paul’s point in the context of the passage is that women, particularly in the church in Ephesus, were abandoning their roles as mothers for other roles, primarily that of public teachers in the church. According to Paul and Moses in Genesis, this isa similar role reversal to that which took place in the garden of Eden. In other words, to reject the role of motherhood for other priorities, is to reject God’s purposes and design. This is tantamount to making oneself God and exchanging His purposes for one’s own. The result: an outright rejection of God Himself. A woman is not saved merely by having a baby. The terminology and context suggest her salvation is connected to her acceptace of God’s design for motherhood. In other words a woman demonstrates her faith by her submission to the purposes of God, continuing in them with... read more
Jul 27, 2005 | General Theology, Personal
Just for fun, over the next few weeks, I’m going to post a few thoughts regarding why I am a Baptist-flavored Christian. I did not begin as a Baptist baby. I was actually christened into the methodical liberalism of the United Methodist Church; therefore, my initial hatred for Baptists was birthed through weekly attendance in a religious culture antithetical to any Baptist distinctives. Then came conversion. Not mine, but my parents. Yes, my parents came to Christ under the gospel preaching (expository preaching, mind you) of a Baptist pastor and church. I was steeped in self-imposed hatred for the church following fourteen years of watching weekly examples of religious hypocrisy. My hatred for the church was directly confronted by the new joy and zeal I witnessed in my parents. Though I uselessly fought them as they (almost literally) drug me to our new Baptist church (I can’t speak to their ministry now), I was convicted week after week by the preaching of God’s Word and the people converted to Christ. I would watch as people zealously and reverently worshiped Christ in song, prayer and attentive intake of the expository messages. It caused me to secretly study my Bible. I had a Baptist hang-up though. I knew, if I were to give in to the conviction of Christ, I would have to go swimming in their narrow pool, located prominently in the back wall of the sanctuary, high enough so all in the audience could see. I just knew that the only prize these baptistic zealots desired was another notch on the their gospel gun gained through my public soaking.... read more
Jul 26, 2005 | Preaching
Adrian Warnock recently extended a call to the Christian blogosphere to list up to five of our favorite preachers. As I think through the preachers I find myself gravitating toward through my tape (yep, I still have a billion of them and I occasionally still pop one in), CD and mp3 players, the following seem to gain most of my attention: John MacArthur, Pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, whose preaching is featured through the famed, Grace to You. Dr. MacArthur is my preaching hero. No other expositor of Scripture has influenced me more. Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and featured speaker through the Truth for Life media ministry. When I heard Begg a few years ago at a Pastor’s meeting in Ontario, CA, I was hooked. Daniel I. Block. Dr. Block has recently become a personal favorite. Until only a few weeks ago, Dr. Block was the John R. Sampey Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Currently he serves as professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. Through a recent seminar with Dr. Block and listening to a number of his messages, he has become my favorite Old Testament preacher. Mark Dever, pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., and executive director of 9 Marks Ministries, became a favorite first through what I read and eventually through his preaching ministry. John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN, and featured through Desiring God Ministries, has been a long-time favorite. His expository exultation is always a refreshment to my... read more
Jul 25, 2005 | Ecclesiology, General Theology
Challies.com posts a powerful discussion (linked in the title) on the marketing techniques that have been used by Zondervan and Rick Warren to promote the best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life. Not only is the marketing of this book facinating, but the apparent influence Warren placed on publishers to not allow the information to find its way to the general... read more
Jul 25, 2005 | Ecclesiology, Pastoral Ministry
Always hot on the trail of the latest good reads and tidbits, Justin Taylor points us to the Christianity Today interview with Mark Dever on the subject of church discipline. I am eagerly anticipating his new book, The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the... read more
Jul 25, 2005 | Culture, Miscellaneous
What the Christian community needs is another way to distract people from reading. If only God had given us a video game, instead of a book perhaps the world would be more Christian. Perhaps then postmillennialism would prevail. Have no fear. There are a host of Christian gaming groups who are now vying for the attention the video gamers of the Christian world (see the linked article). Their chief goal: to convert readers into gamers. You had to see it coming. The Left Behind video game is on the horizon and according to one video gaming guru, “‘Left Behind’ will not likely convert gamers to Christianity, but will need to convert Christians (the books’ fan base) to video gaming.” Instead of X-Box, maybe Christians could become more clever and begin marketing the “Cross-Box.” How shortsighted I have been. If only we would play more video games, our maturity in Christ might increase dramatically. I will hold my comments for those who immerse themselves in the violent sorts of video gaming and instead express my sarcastic dismay at the gullible Christian community who tends to find every reason not to read, but merely immerse themselves in vain, imaginative, short-lived pleasures played out in front of a TV. God help... read more
Jul 22, 2005 | General Theology, Miscellaneous
This article is another facinating display of the destructive logical conclusions derived from false religions. The slaughter and sacrifice of children as temples are being dedicated is only one part of this ancient Aztec... read more
Jul 22, 2005 | Preaching
Baptist Press reports that Southwestern Theological Seminary President, Paige Patterson, now has an online presence. His wife Dorothy is also newly represented on the... read more
Jul 22, 2005 | Culture
An Op-Ed in the New York times makes for interesting reading today. Thomas L. Friedman suggests that the State Department begin a War of Ideas Report, much like their human rights report, and list those whos idealogies suggest physical harm to others. His article is a good read. However, I wonder who it will be to police these ideas? Who will determine what is a proper and an improper idea? Who will be the ones to warn Americans and the World as to what is unacceptable hate and what is acceptable free speech? We are in fact in a war of ideas. This is the very battle the Apostle Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 10:5. Our weapons are more than merely ideological though, they are spiritual. “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of... read more
Jul 21, 2005 | Ecclesiology
Fire-boy Phil Johnson, posts some good articles this week and last on the downfall of historic evangelicalism. Our favorite pyro-pal suggests that the tolerance cult of our culture has made evangelicalism all inclusive and fad-driven. He even suggests that the state of evangelicalism is worse today than ever. One read of any of these articles and one must agree that the moniker PyroManiac is most appropriate for evangelicalism’s most prolific heresy... read more
Jul 21, 2005 | Church History, General Theology
According to this article, the Jews had an active, perhaps persecuted, community in Rome during the first century. The article further suggets that the well-known Christian practice of burials in the Roman catacombs was a result of adopting the Jewish practice. Another link in the transition between Judaism and Chrisitianity in the first century. Interesting article, anyone have any comments on the... read more
Jul 20, 2005 | Miscellaneous
The Washington Times reports that the final tally for Billy Graham’s final crusade has come in, yet, the funds have come up short. How far short? Two million dollars!! The New York crusade was the most expensive crusade in the history of the Graham Evangelistic Association, coming in at around $6.8 million. One crusade – comes close to a typical mega-church’s annual budget. And we wonder why the proclamation of the Gospel in America is tainted with materialism. This is not to suggest that what Graham says from his pulpit is erroneous. Yet, how prevalent it seems to be that the message is often drowned out by the trappings used to dress it up. At a projected budget of almost $7 million for a single evangelistic event, could we really still cling to the same purpose of ministry the Apostle Paul advocated? “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians... read more
Jul 19, 2005 | Politics
The President has made his choice. I heard while driving home from work: John G. Roberts, Jr. We’ll be watching the reports as they come in. See Justin Taylor’s note regarding Roberts. I’ll be watching to see what Bill Kristol has to say also. UPDATE: Watching Fox News, Bill Kristol suggested, just before the announcement, that the President’s choice is not a safe choice, but a provocative one, suggesting that John Roberts is a strong conservative. Kristol also said that the safe choice was a woman (sticking to his previous revised suggestion). Kristol has also suggested that Roberts is not as conservative as Scalia and Thomas, but more along the lines of the current Chief Justice Rehnquist. WED UPDATE: See Bill Kristol’s comments from today in The Weekly Standard. Charles Schumer has thrown down the gauntlet, noting that Judge Roberts received his negative vote previously for a lower court of appeals appointment. Obviously, the liberal side is amassing against him already. Roberts has already has a wiki as the nominee for the... read more
Jul 19, 2005 | Politics
The Weekly Standard posts another interesting article on the links between Osama and Saddam. This article particularly notes the mainstream media press reports from the late 1990s on the connection between Osama and... read more
Jul 19, 2005 | Culture, Ecclesiology, Miscellaneous
In an article posted yesterday in The Weekly Standard, author Mark Tooley reviews the intiguing past of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in American history. The once Israel-supporting Calvinists are now bona-fide Israel-hating liberals. While Tooley chronicles the rapid decline in the denomination’s membership, he does note who is one of their new supporters: the infamous SpongeBob Squarepants! Ah yes, a denomination for the cultural... read more
Jul 18, 2005 | Culture, General Theology
The L.A. Times prints an interesting article on the new public relations offensive of atheists. They appeal to human reason and naturalism as their source of truth and are seeking celebrity and political status in order to change the existing cultural bias against them. The newest brand of atheism calls itself “The Brights.” Here is their statement of belief: “What is a bright? A bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview A bright’s worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview.” Furthermore, they state: “The movement’s three major aims are: Promote the civic understanding and acknowledgment of the naturalistic worldview, which is free of supernatural and mystical elements. Gain public recognition that persons who hold such a worldview can bring principled actions to bear on matters of civic importance. Educate society toward accepting the full and equitable civic participation of all such individuals.” This is the new atheism that seeks to be more subtle in its attempts to remove God from the culture. Promote naturalism and reason and people will abandon God is the basis of Bright religion. Obviously, their belief system is hardly new, but makes for interesting reading and, of course,... read more
Jul 16, 2005 | Politics
Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard originally touted that Sandra O’Connor, not Rehnquist, would be the first to resign. He was right. He further suggested that Alberto Gonzales would be Bush’s pick. Kristol has changed his mind. Why? Kristol suggests that the First Lady has had something to do with the shift, with her comments this week from Africa. Mrs. Bush wants a Mrs. on the Supreme Court. Mr. Bush may be compliant. Bush gave hints but no names today on what kind of nominee he will choose. Of course, his suggestion that she/he will be “mainstream” is an open definition. Perhaps early this week we will hear the... read more
