Problematic Teaching from NCFIC Hip Hop Panelists

Last updated on: December 4, 2013 at 3:27 pm By Owen Strachan

I just had my attention brought to problematic teachings made by members of the NCFIC panel I blogged about last week. Dan Horn has suggested that, in the antebellum period, slaves “were treated as part of a family.” He says so in this video. (UPDATE: link fixed.) This is highly problematic in historical terms. Many slaves were treated terribly, regardless of how their owners thought about them. Joseph Morecraft, according to this website, has argued that “there is a place for slavery... Read more

Dr. Strange-Tunes: Or, How One Man Came to Love Christian Rap

Last updated on: December 3, 2013 at 6:33 am By Owen Strachan

This is a guest-post from Dr. Ryan Reeves, Assistant Dean at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Jacksonville Campus). He is also Assistant Professor of Historical Theology. His PhD is from the University of Cambridge and is centered in Reformation studies. Ryan is a friend of mine and reached out after the controverted NCFIC panel to publish the following. I’m thankful he did, because this essay is charitable, convictional, and personal. This week social media went a-whirling over a video by a panel of... Read more

The Beauty of Motherhood, Captured

Last updated on: December 2, 2013 at 2:52 pm By Owen Strachan

Matt Bieler, creator of a killer RG3 Adidas commercial (“What Light Can Do”), just released a short (2:38) film on stay-at-home motherhood. It’s not didactic. It’s aesthetic and expressive. It’s breathtaking. The video fits this season perfectly. In celebrating the Incarnation, we also give thanks to God for Mary, the mother of Christ. Short films like this remind us of beautiful, how godlike, motherhood is. Thank you, Lord, for devoted moms, who sacrifice themselves day in and day out for... Read more

On Thanksgiving and Death to Self

Last updated on: November 28, 2013 at 9:17 am By Owen Strachan

Note to readers: I posted this blog a year ago and decided to re-run it today. Southern Seminary also ran it on the SBTS blog. It’s been interesting to think about our culture in terms of its celebration of holidays. Here in Louisville, Halloween has become a big deal. Several streets now feature weeks-long decoration parties, as families and residents try to outdo one another by putting up the most zombies, vampires, and cobwebs. My wife and I, working from... Read more

Did a NCFIC Panel Really Say That Reformed Rappers Are “Disobedient Cowards”?

Last updated on: November 27, 2013 at 9:39 pm By Owen Strachan

My friend and Grammy-winning hip hop producer Alex Medina sent me a link to the above video. It’s a panel from the recent Worship of God conference put on by the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches. Here’s what the event info says about the discussion: At the recent Worship of God conference, attendees were encouraged to prepare questions for the concluding time of Q&A. One of the questions we received was: “Any thoughts on reformed rap artists? … Their musical styles would... Read more

Can You Be a Sold-out Christian in the Suburbs?

Last updated on: November 26, 2013 at 2:14 pm By Owen Strachan

I think the answer to my title question is a simple “yes.” I just wrote a book called Risky Gospel on “ordinary” Christianity. But here’s the thing: I don’t simply want Christians to accept that it’s okay to live in the ‘burbs. I want to infuse all of life with gospel passion driven by what I call “gospel risk”: because of Christ, trading a small way of life for a big vision of your existence. I have three particular concerns in Risky... Read more

The Evangelical Mind Is Alive: ETS 2013 & Inerrancy

Last updated on: November 18, 2013 at 1:22 pm By Owen Strachan

It’s that time of year again: the Evangelical Theological Society meets Tuesday-Thursday of this week. I’m traveling today to Baltimore for the 64th annual meeting, organized around the important theme of “Inerrancy.” I’ll be presenting two papers this year, both on the neo-evangelicals. My first paper is on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 4:30pm in Hilton-Latrobe. I’m part of a session on inerrancy with John Woodbridge and my friend Doug Hankins; Rob Caldwell is the chair. My paper is entitled “The... Read more

What a Late-term Abortionist Tells You: “It’ll Be Inserted Through the Head”

Last updated on: November 14, 2013 at 9:24 am By Owen Strachan

I saw this Live Action video on Twitter via ace journalist Mollie Hemingway. It features Dr. Carmen Landau of the Southwest Women’s Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She’s an abortionist, and according to the video, she’s quite happy to kill late-term babies. You should watch this video. It’s about 4 minutes long. If you have a conscience, and if you care about children, it may make you weep, sweat, and audibly cry out. You’ll hear two voices–Landau’s and another counselor’s–that are... Read more

You Don’t Read Homer to Become Smart

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 10:19 am By Owen Strachan

Just came across a great essay on the end of education and thinking. It’s over at Humane Pursuits, a website I just learned about, which features some of the nicest aesthetics I’ve seen on a website. Here’s what Liz Horst had to say about intelligence and its ends: We tend to see everything backwards. You don’t read Homer to become smart; you become smart so that you can enjoy Homer. Intelligence is not a concrete good on its own. It... Read more

Forget Decaf–You Need Some Triple-Shot Macchiato Faith

Last updated on: November 12, 2013 at 10:45 am By Owen Strachan

I enjoy few creature comforts more than one of those hand-crafted, artisanal coffee drinks that have suddenly taken over America (that’s Louisville’s excellent Quills Coffee to the left). If you’re at a local coffeeshop or a Starbucks, you can be sure that you will hear someone order a very complex drink. Often said person is trying to thread the needle between two extremes: they want a non-fat mocha (health: check) but are glad to have some whipped cream on top... Read more