Recently, David George Moore, who blogs at www.twocities.org, offered a reasonable critique of The Gospel Coalition’s approach to criticism of their own. In essence, David called attention to The Gospel Coalition’s tribalism and protection of its own, esp its celebrity pastors, and he did this with grace. But David believes TGC contributes to the evangelical movement and so in this piece David Moore offers further reflections on what he thinks TGC brings to the table. In my recent piece (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2015/03/05/a-few-thoughts-for-my-friends-in-the-gospel-coalition-by-david-moore/)... Read more

How about you? Cecilia Kang: Traditional television watching is declining faster than ever as streaming services become a mainstream feature in American homes, according to new research by Nielsen. Adults watched an average of four hours and 51 minutes of live TV each week in the fourth quarter of 2014, down 13 minutes from the same quarter of 2013, according to Nielsen’s fourth-quarter 2014 Total Audience Report. Viewing was down six minutes between the fourth quarter of 2013 and 2012. And between 2012... Read more

Good. Yes, that’s right. Before I explain that, an anecdote. In an interview I was asked what was the the most encouraging sign in the church today, and what I told the one who asked surprised him. There are many encouraging signs, not least the zeal and passion of young Christians, the surging presence of women professors and administrators in seminaries, Christian colleges, and churches, the ever-growing scholarly contributions to life in the church … lots of encouraging sings. But the... Read more

Ross Douthat: HT: KM But the assumption, deeply ingrained in our intelligentsia, that everything depends on finding the most modern and “scientific” alternative to older verities has been tested repeatedly — with mostly dire results. The 19th-century theories that cast themselves as entirely new and modern were the ones that devastated the 20th century, loosing fascism and Marxism on the world. Which makes Harari’s concluding provocation feel like an unintended warning: “In terms of ideas, in terms of religions,” he... Read more

By Stephen Cuss Fred Craddock died over the weekend.  He was 86 years old. His influence belied his small stature, extending to tens of thousands of pulpits around the world.  I cannot overstate how much he influenced my approach to scripture, story telling and preaching. I first encountered Dr Craddock when I was a teenager in Western Australia.  Our preacher’s son, David Timms had returned from his theological education in USA.  He preached at our church and I’d never heard... Read more