Morning Report, April 16, 2010: "Social Justice," Suffering Culture, Shakira Don't Lie, Tea Party Profile, Gay Visitations, and a Stingy POTUS

Last updated on: April 16, 2010 at 2:19 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

Christian and secular news and commentary one Christian found important or entertaining this morning. Some good sources of commentary to share with you this morning: 1. EVANGELISTIC JUSTICE: Yesterday we published the second installment of the Cross Examinations series, this time concerning the proper relationship between evangelistic and social justice ministries. Read it here. All of the responses were thoughtful and eloquent, some were certainly impassioned, and at least one was potentially provocative. Hope you check it out. I do... Read more

On the Inadequacies of Motherhood

Last updated on: April 15, 2010 at 3:08 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

The deep sadness that comes with the waning of those golden years is mitigated somewhat by the realization that the children really need to go. They are too big. I don’t mean that physically, but emotionally and spiritually. I still want to mother them, but they’re too big for me. They have outgrown me. I still want to hold them, but my stroking will not quiet their anxieties and ambitions. I no longer have what they need to sustain their journey. Read more

Selling Virginity and Stealing Souls

Last updated on: April 14, 2010 at 3:20 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

The video below is heartbreaking. I thank God for the many Christian (and non-Christian) ministries that serve the girls who are trapped in sex slavery around the world. Yet my heart burns with anger when I consider all the men who perpetuate the trade in virginity and sex. I am especially angry when I consider the westerners who travel to countries like Cambodia specifically to objectify and use these women in the worst possible way. The woman interviewed in the... Read more

Jennifer Knapp is Gay — So, Now What?

Last updated on: April 14, 2010 at 3:03 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

The Christian musician Jennifer Knapp has just stated in an interview with Christianity Today that she is gay. Jennifer released albums in 2000 and 2001 that were immensely successful, and she was touring constantly. When she withdrew from the public eye in 2002, there were rumors that she was withdrawing because she was gay. As she explains, that was both true and untrue: Christianity Today: There were rumors that you left music because you were gay. Knapp: That was a... Read more

Is God Triune?

Last updated on: April 12, 2010 at 3:29 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

I have often sung the praises of Parchment and Pen, a great blog and a partner to the Evangelical Portal. Parchment and Pen focuses on theology, but often speaks as well to pastoral care issues. Parchment and Pen is hosting The Great Trinity Debate, a conversation between Michael Patton (proprietor of the blog) and David Burke. Burke is a Christadelphian, which means that he is a “Biblical Unitarian.” Unlike Rationalist or Universalist Unitarians, Biblical Unitarians believe that Jesus is the... Read more

Morning Report, Friday, April 9: Bonhoeffer, Celibacy and Abuse, Soul-Sorts, Megan Fox, and Other Nuclear Weapons

Last updated on: April 9, 2010 at 10:39 am By Timothy Dalrymple

Christian and secular news and commentary that one Christian found important or entertaining today. Read more

Morning Report, Thursday, April 10, 2010: Adoption, Abstinence, Easter at the White House, Catholic Crisis, and the Future of China

Last updated on: April 8, 2010 at 10:28 am By Timothy Dalrymple

Christian and secular news and commentary that one Christian found important or interesting this morning: 1. ADOPTED SONS AND DAUGHTERS. Christianity Today‘s “210 Million Reasons to Adopt” is well worth your time. I would rather that Christian families, who often say they do not feel called to adopt, feel as though they need a calling not to adopt, in the face of such extraordinary need and such a clear biblical mandate to care for the orphan. There are many ways... Read more

Our Upcoming Series on "Life Together": How Pastoral Lives and Congregational Lives Shape One Another

Last updated on: April 7, 2010 at 4:00 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

There are generally several series underway at the Evangelical Portal at any one moment. One I have begun to develop addresses pastors of prominent churches (some “megachurches”) and deals with the question of how the growth of a congregation affects the life of the pastor. How do pastors find themselves tempted to spiritual pride as they see the numbers of their flock begin to swell? How do pastors deal with the tensions and pressures that come from guiding large congregations? ... Read more

Morning Report, April 7, 2010:

Last updated on: April 7, 2010 at 12:18 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

Links to secular and Christian news and commentary that one Christian found important or entertaining this morning: 1. More information on the simmering tensions between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. 2. QUESTIONING THE NARRATIVE. Scot McKnight begins a series at Jesus Creed that disputes Brian McLaren’s depiction of “the soul-sort narrative.” Relatedly, see my post yesterday on McLaren’s rhetoric and penchant for caricature. 3. SOCIAL INJUSTICE. The conversation continues on what exactly “social justice” means in contemporary discourse. A lot... Read more

Brian McLaren, the Misuses of Rhetoric, and Babies and Bathwater

Last updated on: April 6, 2010 at 5:50 pm By Timothy Dalrymple

Evangelical opposition to Brian McLaren's "A New Kind of Christianity" is deep and broad. Why? What about "McLarenism" is upsetting not only conservative but also moderate and even some liberal evangelicals? Read more