Scottish Church Planting: Introducing the 20 Schemes Project

Last updated on: December 5, 2012 at 6:49 am By Owen Strachan

Thabiti Anyabwile highlights the gospel testimony of a Scot named Mez McConnell here. Listen to this account of how God saved a desperate soul and gave him new life. Then check out these resources, including the “20 Schemes” project that Mez and Matthew Spandler-Davidson are pioneering. It sounds terrific and needed. More info: You can hear a longer discussion of Mez’s life, testimony, and ministry in this 9Marks interview. Be encouraged! The gospel is the power of God unto salvation–and God... Read more

Five Reasons to Grant Religious Groups “Special Privileges” in Society

Last updated on: December 4, 2012 at 8:22 am By Owen Strachan

Wilfred McClay recently wrote an excellent cover-page essay for Christianity Today on the civic goods that religion provides to America. Many friends of mine might profess some level of skepticism about so-called “civil religion”; I understand and share some of those concerns. Nonetheless, Christians who encourage the secularization of the public square are falling for a harmful argument. In all kinds of ways, religion is good for public life. McClay lists five reasons for offering religions “special privileges” in society. He... Read more

491 Babies Born in Canada & Left to Die (2000-09)

Last updated on: December 3, 2012 at 8:44 am By Owen Strachan

One of the best reasons for Christian cultural engagement is that we might know what actually is happening in this sinful world. Cultural engagement does not allow us to live with blinders on; it forces us to confront the raw data of evil. What follows took my breath away. According to LifeSiteNews, almost 500 babies were born in Canada from 2000-09 as the result of failed abortions. These babies were not cared for but were left to die. Here’s some... Read more

Dear Discouraged Christian: Here’s Some Gospel Encouragement

Last updated on: December 1, 2012 at 8:51 am By Owen Strachan

If you are feeling discouraged from events in recent days, you may need some encouragement. You have come to the right place, my friend. Two recent articles in secular media have offered surprising testimony to the vitality of Christianity in dark places. The first, from the Guardian, is on the rise of Calvinism in Chinese churches. This is an astonishing story that I can only tease: The most conservative estimates of the new converts to Christianity is 500,000; there is a... Read more

How Can You Grow in Your Faith? Learn Theology! (Like at Gospel Coalition 2013)

Last updated on: November 30, 2012 at 12:16 pm By Owen Strachan

Do you want to grow in your faith in Christ? Yes? I have a few thoughts for you. First: instead of avoiding theology and focusing solely on piety, read and study theology in order to grow in your walk with Christ. The two are not and must not be seen as separate. They work in hand in glove. In opposition to what many say, don’t start small. Get a big book–like Wayne Grudem’s huge and helpful systematic theology or Tom Schreiner’s... Read more

Powerhouse Theology: The Inaugural LA Theology Conference on Christology

Last updated on: November 29, 2012 at 9:24 am By Owen Strachan

My Patheos colleague and leading Trinitarian scholar Fred Sanders of Biola University just announced the papers for the parallel sessions of the inaugural, and very exciting, Los Angeles Theology Conference. Sanders is heading up this event along with Fuller’s Oliver Crisp, widely respected for his philosophical and theological work. I’m honored to present a paper at this conference. The plenary speakers are something of a Who’s Who in the Protestant theological world: Crisp, Hunsinger, Leithart, Torrance, Sonderegger. For my humble part, I’ll be... Read more

Exposing Myths About Marijuana

Last updated on: November 28, 2012 at 9:49 am By Owen Strachan

Steven Crowder is a young conservative comedian and provocateur who is one of the few thinkers injecting a bit of fun into discussions of social policy. Crowder has a punchy style that often ruffles some feathers, but his videos also regularly feature intelligent commentary and argumentation on social issues. Crowder’s latest video tackles myths about marijuana by mixing man-on-the-street interviews with expert testimony. It shows that marijuana really is harmful. It’s not nearly so inconsequential as some are saying today and has,... Read more

Back to Your Posts: A Response to Dalrymple on Marriage

Last updated on: November 27, 2012 at 10:06 am By Owen Strachan

My friend and Patheos colleague Tim Dalrymple released a humdinger of a post yesterday questioning whether Christians should still publicly defend and advocate for marriage in the public square. The post, I must confess, took me aback–but this is what happens when you are in conversation with critical and creative thinkers. Dalrymple first pointed out that try as we might, we actually cannot redefine marriage. He is quite right: In the same sense that a hydrogen atom simply is constituted by the... Read more

Should We Leave Our Marriages for Greener Pastures?

Last updated on: November 26, 2012 at 10:19 am By Owen Strachan

The New York Times just published a stomach-turner on the dissolution of a marriage. It’s called “After the Affair,” and it’s by a woman named Judy Wachs (HT: Ben Domenech). The piece details Wachs’s discovery of her husband’s affair. Her extension of forgiveness is commendable, but then the piece takes a strongly dispiriting turn: And when I finally left our marriage after 22 years, not for another man but to strike out on my own, he showed me the same empathy... Read more

Why Abusive Men Repudiate True Manhood: Letter to an Abusive Husband

Last updated on: November 24, 2012 at 6:37 pm By Owen Strachan

Today, November 25, is The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. I do not normally blog on Sundays, as faithful readers know. But this is a topic worth addressing, especially because I am on the record as being for manly leadership in home and church. Let’s address this awful subject this way: if I could talk with a man who was abusing his headship of his home, what would I say? What follows is an attempt toward that... Read more