The recent events surrounding RFRA legislation in Indiana have many Christians deeply worried, and for good reason. Religious liberty is now seen by a good number of folks as a hostile presence in American cultural life. To do anything but affirm same-sex marriage, for example, is taken as a sign of bias and a creeping interest in inequity. These are perilous times for Christians. They may well signal that worse effects are in the offing. In other words, the prospects... Read more
You’ve likely just heard the news: the PCUSA has formally endorsed same-sex marriage, rendering marriage between “two people.” Yes, it’s that indeterminate: two people. This landmark decision comes on the heels of another professedly evangelical church publicly affirming same-sex marriage (SSM). City Church of San Francisco just announced that they would no longer require “LGBT” individuals to remain celibate for life. In response, I wrote a piece entitled “City Church and the Affirmation-only Gospel” for CBMW. It traces the connection... Read more
I just read a piece that truly shocked me. Thin Places, a blog hosted by Christianity Today, published a piece by Rachel Marie Stone entitled “Contraception Saves Lives” that “reconsiders” Margaret Sanger (HT: Eric Teetsel). Much of Stone’s piece focuses on the benefits of birth control, but part of it repristinates Sanger herself. On my first tour of Zomba Central Hospital in Malawi, Africa, where I lived from 2012-2014, an older nurse-midwife, Lena, told me proudly that she had visited the city of my birth,... Read more
9Marks, working hand-in-glove with CBMW, just published a stunning testimony of God’s grace. It’s by Jackie Hill Perry, renowned spoken-word artist for Humble Beast Records, and it tells her journey from lesbianism to complementarianism. Here’s a selection: He wanted to watch wrestling; I wanted to watch the Food Network. As we both raced to grab the remote, in hopes of having first dibs on our entertainment for the evening, I lost the battle. … He was a man, and I was a... Read more
Dear Rob Bell, I recently read your comments, made to Oprah, about the church being “moments away” from affirming gay marriage. Here are your remarks as reported on one website: That statement prompted a question from Oprah: “When is the church going to get that?” “We’re moments away,” Rob Bell said. “I think culture is already there and the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense, when... Read more
I tackled a thorny issue in a free-wheeling lecture for The Commonweal Project of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary last week. The full title of the 45-minute lecture (15 minutes of Q&A) was “Is Making a Ton of Money a Moral Problem for Christian Churches?” I answered, in brief, No, but it could be. This is a tough question that often draws fuzzy or un-nuanced answers. My own response consisted of a biblical-theological overview and a few dives into cultural analysis. Essentially,... Read more
Greg Gibson of CBMW just offered a helpful minority-report on boys and ADHD. Though Gibson acknowledges that some children are prone to this condition, he calls for believers to not over-diagnose it in “Let Boys Be Non-Medicated Boys.” Gibson works with families in his pastoral ministry, and he notes this: I talk with parents often about their intentions in medicating with Ritalin. I get it. They want their boys to succeed, have good grades, and not get in trouble, but... Read more
Here’s a high standard for husbands: a man who died from cancer arranged to send his wife flowers every Valentine’s Day she lives. Once in a while, you hear a story that calls you to be a better man than you are. This is one such story. It calls us husbands to treasure our wives while there is still time. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… Read more
Andrew Walker and I just wrote a piece for The Federalist entitled “Chris Kyle, ‘Savages,’ And Moral Language In A Terrorist Age.” It engages Chris Kyle’s use of the term “savages” to describe terrorists. We make the case that this is a justified term, as it refers not to ontology, but behavior. Here’s a selection from it: The pushback against Kyle is both ironic and instructive. It is ironic because a preening minority has focused a great deal of attention on the... Read more
At the Council of Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, we just had the occasion of releasing some great news. Our financial intake grew 21% from 2013 to 2014. The overall gain was about $40,000. All glory to God for this serious uptick. Here’s the official word: The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood saw giving go up by 21% in 2014 – an increase of almost $40,000 – and plans to respond by providing more resources and reaching more people with the... Read more
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