August 2009

Douglas Groothuis has written a nice piece for the Christian Research Institue on a topic near and dear to my heart, apologetics.  In his piece, he address the six enemies of apologetic engagement.  It’s a good, quick read, and a nice sanity check for those of who labor (or don’t ;) in this area of The Work.

For the impatient, here’s his list:

1. Indifference
2. Irrationalism
3. Ignorance
4. Cowardice
5. Arrogance and intellectual vanity
6. Superficial techniques or schlock apologetics

Check out the article for the full treatment.

Interesting write up from one of my favorite evangelical thinkers:

For most of our history, Baptists have been more concerned with the externals of the Table—grape juice or real wine, who may preside, who may partake—rather than with the question of what actually goes on at this sacred meal.

Read the rest here.

“The latest rumor is that President Obama is going to have dinner on Martha’s Vineyard with Oprah Winfrey. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The most powerful person in the free world is going to have dinner with President Obama.”

-Conan O’Brien

An interesting piece from Christianity Today‘s website:

As Christians join the rest of the country in jousting over the proposed changes to our health care system, one significant fact should inform the Christian debate: modern health care is a Christian invention. The reasons Christians developed the world’s first health care system—as opposed to simply medical practitioners—are as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago.

Read the entire piece here.

Mike Adams has a great piece on an often controversial topic: what to wear to church: Sunday’s Breast.

One of the more popular religious games to play, for both the sectarian and the secular, is “What kind of politician would Jesus Be?” Would He be a Republican or a Democrat? Sometimes this branches out into more a economic realm with would He be a capitalist or a socialist? This former flavor of the discussion was recently brought op on twitter. Since 140 characters at a time is a tough format in which to have a serious discussion, I thought I’d try to share my thoughts in longer form here. Read the rest of this entry »

“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.”

-George Washington

Conservative blog Midwestern Clarity gave my exact sentiments after watching Julie & Julia, a recent movie release featuring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.

Both actresses were amazing, especially Streep whose performance as Julia Childs was incredible. As Midwestern Clarity points out, Streep’s “cadence and accent on choice syllables is so faithful to the real deal, it is almost unsettling.”

Overall, I did enjoy the movie, but there was one ridiculous and unnecessary line. Adams’ character meets with her boss who confronts Adams about missing work and posting in her blog about her absence. The scene concludes with her boss stating “a Republican would have fired you.”

Hollywood is famous for berating conservatives and the Republican party. However, I don’t recall a more baseless and chiding remark about conservatism ever featured in film. I welcome suggested considerations.

One word can stop you in your tracks when you seek to “give an account for the hope that is in you” as an ambassador for Christ. That word is “tolerance.”

–Gregory Koukl, in an article from the Christian Research Journal, volume 24, number 4 (2002)

Let us remember, as people of faith, that our primary mission is not to have a political ideology, it’s to change the world so that every man, woman, boy, and girl can experience true freedom. Not just the freedom to speak out, but the freedom within to be all God ever intended for us to be. I would suggest that we need an evangelical version of Shock and Awe. That we would show this country that the people of faith are not just angry folks mad about some things we don’t like, but people who have joy in our hearts. People who want to help those without housing to find it, those without drinking water to drink it, to help people who are hungry at night to know what it is to have food. And you know, some people say, “Are you worried that the government might try to do it,” and yes I am, but I’m even more worried the church won’t do it, and the government will mess up trying. That’s why those of us who are people of faith need to act out of our souls and consciousness, and not expect government to do what we could do if every believer, instead of sending half of his money to the government in taxes, would give one dime out of every dollar to his church.

-Mike Huckabee

Today, August 18, in Christian history:

August 18, 1688: John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress preaches his last sermon, in London.

Me: His masterpiece, Pilgrim’s Progress is arguably the most famous Christian published book besides the Bible (before The Shack usurped its status, that is, on the wings of a bereft culture).

The New York Times offers a pro’s and con’s look at the new health care public policy on the table: co-ops.

“If a public insurance option were to be abandoned, it could be replaced by an alternative favored by some moderates like Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota: the health insurance cooperative.”

Read the rest here. I like what I hear so far.

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”

-Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

“The Christian should work as if all depended on him, and pray as if it all depended on God.”

-Charles H. Spurgeon

“Put your nose into the Bible everyday. It is your spiritual food. And then share it. Make a vow not to be a lukewarm Christian.”

-Kirk Cameron

To my sheer disappointment, information about Rick Pitino’s adulterous affair in 2003 was revealed this week. The University of Louisville basketball coach followed a very tragic trail to cover up his infidelity including paying $3,000 for an abortion.

Pitino spoke in a news conference about how he apologizes every day to his family for his failure. What is unfortunate is he hasn’t admitted his lethal mistake regarding his unborn child.

Pro-life student organization Cardinals for Life is calling for the University of Louisville to dismiss Pitino immediately.  The organization challenges the university if action is not taken, UL is condoning the abortion of Pitino’s child.

Here is my suggestion. Pitino should make a confession that he was wrong to pay for that abortion and publicly join the pro-life ranks. He made a horrible, immoral decision, but he can be forgiven.

Whether or not he should be dismissed is up to the university, but as a successful basketball coach who holds great influence on many, even beyond the basketball community, Pitino needs to take a stand and tell the world abortion is wrong.

A greater, more positive outcome would result, the Sanctity of Life would be emphasized, and healing would begin.

Christianity Today offers yet another thought-provoking column on the “marketing” Jesus movement. The piece says in part:

The de-churched nature of our theology makes evangelism hard to do without seeming salesy, because churchless evangelism unavoidably promotes a consumerist soteriology. When it’s just you and Jesus, you (the consumer) “invite him” (the product) “into your heart” (brand adoption) and “get saved” (consumer gratification). Certainly God has worked and continues to work through these formulae. His doing so testifies to his grace, however, not to the fidelity of such evangelistic formulations, which, in this culture, inadvertently make Jesus out to be a cosmic version of the consumer brands promoted in the thousands of advertisements each of us sees daily.

Such brands promise to deliver goods—self-esteem, sex appeal, confidence, coolness—that they have no intrinsic capacity to give. Their power is in consumers’ collective willingness to imbue them with that kind of power. In other words, consumerism is impotent to deliver on its promise, and deep down, we know it. Consumerist marketing offers something that just isn’t there.

Read the rest of this entry »

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

-Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!

From NewsOK.com

Former President Jimmy Carter appeared to throw down the proverbial gauntlet at Friday’s New Baptist Covenant meeting, asking a large crowd of people where they stood on thorny issues that have divided Baptists and other Christians for years:

“How many of you believe women should serve as deacons, pastors and military chaplains or do you believe women are supposed to be submissive to their husbands and not allowed to be leaders and teachers of men?” he said.

“How many of you believe homosexual Christians should be treated with respect and accepted into our congregations or that the sin of homosexuality is paramount above all other sins and warrants their complete exclusion?”

“How many of you believe that the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade (legalizing abortion) was appropriate and should remain unchanged or that all abortions should be prohibited?”

Sounds like a pretty unifying speech to me.

“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

-H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America, critiquing the social gospel.

The Christian Research Institute offers a summary critique of Joel Osteen’s best-seller, Become a Better You. It begins:

Named as one of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2006” and selected as the “Most Influential Christian in 2006” by the readers of Church Report Magazine, Joel Osteen’s star continues to rise. His charmed life as the guru of the ”gospel-light” message is now all the more assured with skyrocketing sales of a new blockbuster book on self-improvement. Not without its merits, Become a Better You offers good advice throughout, such as accepting God’s forgiveness, reaching out to others, and never giving up. As in his other number-one bestseller Your Best Life Now, which remained on the New York Times “Best Sellers” list for more than two years and has sold more than four million copies, however, there are serious concerns about its teachings.

Read the rest here.