I wrote a post on Monday entitled “Is Rachel Held Evans’s Use of “God Herself” Biblically Faithful?” that got a fair amount of attention this week. It got many “Likes” on Facebook, for example. But far less than it should have. Why? Because, it appears, the post was deemed “unsafe.” I’m not entirely sure what happened, to be honest. I’m no code-cracker or rival to Zuckerberg and his billions. Here are the facts, though, of this strange and disquieting experience: 1. I... Read more
(This is a lengthy piece featuring a good bit of theological engagement. For ease of reading, follow the main sections.) Rachel Held Evans has achieved a measure of recognition among evangelicals, appearing on the cover of Christianity Today, speaking at Q, and giving talks at churches. In recent days, her glowing endorsement of Matthew Vines’s book-length legitimation of “gay Christianity” caught my eye (see the Southern Seminary response, 96 packed pages of dense scholarship, here). Evans has acted in surprising ways before. On April... Read more
I recently wrote three posts for the Kern Pastors Network on the broad topic of work and the gospel. Below are the posts and a brief description of each. I’m thankful for the Kern Family Foundation, which has partnered with Southern Seminary on a major grant to bring significant programming on the intersection of faith and work to our campus. I’m part of the steering committee of this project and am really enjoying writing and thinking about these topics. 1.... Read more
(This is a lengthy piece featuring a good bit of theological engagement. For ease of reading, follow the main sections.) Rachel Held Evans has achieved a measure of recognition among evangelicals, appearing on the cover of Christianity Today, speaking at Q, and giving talks at churches. In recent days, her glowing endorsement of Matthew Vines’s book-length legitimation of “gay Christianity” caught my eye (see the Southern Seminary response, 96 packed pages of dense scholarship, here). Evans has acted in surprising ways before. On... Read more
My brother-at-arms Andrew Walker and I just wrote a piece entitled, puckishly, “Why the Church Is Wrong” for First Thoughts of First Things. It’s on the revisionist hermeneutic and hubris of Matthew Vines, Rachel Held Evans, and their ilk. You may know that these are the same folks who dare to correct the apostle Paul, a man martyred for his faith and inspired by the Holy Spirit in his writings, on his sexual ethics. Here’s a swatch from the piece: It is... Read more
I just became the new President of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood (CBMW), the organization founded in 1987 by Wayne Grudem and John Piper. I’ve served as Executive Director of the Council since 2012 and am honored to move into this new role. Here is the official press release from CBMW. In the video above from our April 2014 National Conference (the Together for the Gospel pre-conference), I laid out in about 12 minutes flat where we are... Read more
Kevin Durant, a splendid NBA player, just won the 2014 MVP award. During his speech, he paid powerful tribute to his mother, who raised him and his brother Tony by herself. Watch the clip above. You need to watch this speech. It is the anti-celebrity soundbite event. Instead of celebrating himself, and using the public occasion to settle scores or knock down his competition (see Jordan, Michael), Durant praises every single one of his teammates, greatest to weakest, and cries... Read more
It was a big weekend in Louisville just a few days ago. The Kentucky Derby–you might have heard of it–ran for the 140th time, and for a brief spell, all the world’s attention turned to this quiet and pleasant city, what with hot-air balloon visits from Tom Brady and sightings of other celebrities (Scottie Pippen, anyone?). Derby, as it’s called here, brings out a stunning array of fantastic hats. It’s a tradition, and a fun one at that, that ladies... Read more
At the CBMW 2014 National Conference, “CBMW and the Gospel: A Brave New Movement,” David Platt gave a stirring word on Christian singleness. We at CBMW have heard for some time that people need more biblical material on singleness. We agree, and for that reason we asked David to speak on this important topic. Watch all the CBMW NatCon ’14 videos here. “We affirm singleness as a good gift from God that portrays the gospel of God….For billions and trillions... Read more
My breakout session from the 2014 Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference is now online. It was entitled The Pastor as Public Theologian in an Increasingly Hostile Culture. My session runs around an hour, and covers two major themes: 1) The pastorate is fundamentally a theological office that calls for the pastor to take dominion of all of life for the good of the church. 2) In this role, the pastor is necessarily an ethical agent who helps his people meet... Read more
Thought Life
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In