Christian Smith, in Bible Made Impossible, The: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture, contends that what many of us (evangelicals) affirm is impossible to hold with intellectual integrity. Buy this book, read it slowly and carefully, and ponder it … because this book is a very serious call for us to develop a more robust approach to the Bible. So, what do you think? Is biblicism characteristic of evangelicalism? Are these ten features what you see? What... Read more

From Ray Ortlund: If this book is reading the Bible rightly, then we cannot say that same-sex unions are holy. That assertion is now impossible to sustain. The biblical view of marriage — one man with one woman — is not based on a verse here and verse there but is the message of the entire Bible from cover to cover. Therefore, if we cave on marriage, we lose more than marriage; we lose the gospel itself. Marriage and the... Read more

The retribution principle is simple: the righteous will prosper and the wicked will suffer. The corollary is that prosperity and suffering are always deserved. If someone suffers, it is because they are wicked, while prosperity is evidence of righteousness. Christianity puts another twist on this. Ultimate justice comes, not in this life, but in the age to come. The book of Job puts the retribution principle on trial. There are three aspects to the trial. (1) The challenger suggests that... Read more

Wrestling Hate This post-election week, I am reading and watching the news, but I don’t want to. I want to stay distant. I want to turn off my computer and silence the radio. It’s costly to listen. It’s wrenching to look at photos and hear stories of racism and harassment. It’s frightening to see the haters emboldened. And Trump’s terse admonition to “stop it,” uttered on 60 Minutes falls absurdly short of what is needed. I live thousands of miles... Read more

When I was researching why it was that evangelical Christians moved over to Roman Catholicism I encountered what I still think is a good logical argument: that those who believe in supporting all arguments from Scripture can’t support that view on the basis of the Bible. It’s a good case for desconstruction. The evangelical, or radical Protestant, view of the Bible, in other words, is not without its problems. Christian Smith challenges those who anchor their faith in the Bible,... Read more

By Aaron Visser In the sign-off of his special on election night on Showtime, amidst the jocularity and satire, Stephen Colbert said some pretty thoughtful and sobering things about this most recent election. At one point, he compared politics to things like poison and gambling: too much of either, and you end up regretting it. If you haven’t seen the video, I encourage you to go find in on Youtube. His comments caused me to contemplate further. I began to... Read more

Ben Pickett is the Discipleship Minister at the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene Texas. I entered full-time ministry later in life after a career in business and discovered quickly the importance of training and education. Fact is, I’m still learning. I’m finding that with each new ministry context I learn more about myself, my calling, and my relationship with God. My role in ministry is called “Discipleship Ministry,” but it could just as easily be called a “2nd Chair”... Read more

By Michelle Van Loon who can be read at www.MomentsAndDays.org and followed at www.MichelleVanLoon.com According to a 2011 Pew Forum survey, there are twice as many Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians in the world as there are Evangelicals. An earlier Barna survey notes that in the U.S., as many as a quarter of U.S. Christians identify as Pentecostal or Charismatic. There is a wide range of practice among these brothers and sister. Some attend Assemblies of God congregations or unaffiliated independent... Read more

Daniel Strauss: The revolution is back in business. Supporters of Bernie Sanders’ failed presidential bid are seizing on Democratic disarray at the national level to launch a wave of challenges to Democratic Party leaders in the states. The goal is to replace party officials in states where Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton during the acrimonious Democratic primary with more progressive leadership. But the challenges also represent a reckoning for state party leaders who, in many cases, tacitly supported Clinton’s bid. “I... Read more

There is a well known image often used in evangelism – the bridge diagram. The cross is a bridge spanning the chasm between God and humans. A google search on “bridge diagram” will turn up many examples.  The bridge to the right is a very different kind – connecting Buda and Pest. We, too, are called to build or be bridges. Now, clearly we don’t replace the cross or the one-off work of God through Christ in any way, shape... Read more