Maureen Dowd just published an earth-scorcher on the Anthony Weiner scandal entitled “Your Tweetin’ Heart.” It’s in the NYT and is well-worth reading (HT: Mike Cosper). Dowd relishes a fine skewering of bad men, and she’s up to the task in her piece. I found it interesting given that just last week I tackled this theme in a Gospel Coalition piece. Dowd takes note of a trend among famous men nowadays. They marry very well, hitching up with women who... Read more
Don’t know if you’ve followed this, but Tim Challies kicked up a bit of an Internet storm recently when he helpfully suggested that it was a good thing for Christian wives to give attention to their appearances for the betterment of their husbands. He was responding to a post a few months ago by blogger Rachel Held Evans, who registered disagreement with Challies’s post. In response to Evans, Southern Seminary professor Mary Kassian suggested something of a middle way in... Read more
I received some interesting feedback from last Friday’s post. Some wondered about my thoughts about Ralph Reed and the future of Christians in politics. I am not prescient, and I am not in politics, but here are a few sketchy ideas. I would not claim allegiance to everything the Christian Coalition stood for or promoted. I’m not a God-and-country Christian, straight up. I do personally love when I see Christians attempting to be salt and light in the broader culture,... Read more
The New York Times just ran a story on former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed entitled “A Political Revival for Ralph Reed.” It’s worth reading. Behold this selection: Hardly bashful these days, Mr. Reed suggests that his party needs him. He said that “a couple good friends, fairly senior in the party” told him, “You need to do something.” They said, “Since you left the Christian Coalition, we haven’t had a lean, mean operation focused on the grass roots.” Mr.... Read more
Harvey Mansfield, Harvard professor of politics and 2011 Bradley Prize winner, just wrote a provocative piece on the distinctive characteristics and faults of men for The Weekly Standard. It’s entitled “Manliness and Morality” and I commend it to you. Several years ago, Mansfield penned the highly controversial book Manliness (Yale, 2006), also worth reading, though the professor operates from a non-evangelical framework and sometimes writes in a swashbuckling style. Enjoying the freedom only tenure can bring, Mansfield has questioned gender... Read more
Do the moral failures of former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, an outspoken Christian, have anything to teach Christians? I think they do. I do not know Jim Tressel. His faith has certainly seemed in the past to be genuine. (Update: here’s a resource showing a profession of faith from Tressel, albeit one that would concern some.) My point here is not to suggest that we can now know that his profession of faith is not genuine. I do... Read more
I’ve enjoyed a recent round of posts on seminary from SBTS MDiv graduate Patrick Schreiner. Patrick is a sharp thinker and writer. I would encourage you to read his short, punchy posts on the seminary experience and how to do it well. From his insightful blog, Ad Fontes: “The windup of my 10 pieces of counsel: Take the hardest classes. Learn the Languages. Take some professors who will teach you the art of exegesis, and others who will teach you... Read more
That’s one line you’ll never hear from 9Marks, the ministry outfit helmed by Mark Dever. A few weeks back, 9Marks released a new eJournal on church membership. This is actually the first eJournal they’ve ever done on the topic. It’s quite good, featuring commentary from Matt Chandler, Jonathan Leeman, Matt Schmucker and more. In a lengthy essay, I reviewed a book entitled The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons for the journal. The text purports to offer a new way forward for... Read more
Updated (5/29/11): Matt Hill has been found and is okay. Details to come. Praise God. Some out there have seen the notice about Matt Hill of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He is a member of the church and the Campus Director of Campus Outreach ministry at George Washington University. Matt has been missing for a few days now, which has stunned those who know him. Please join people around the world in praying for Matt’s safe return.... Read more
Mike Wittmer of Grand Rapids Theological Seminary has recently released Christ Alone: An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins (Edenridge, 2011, lively foreword by Michael Horton). I commend it to you. This is the only book-length treatment of Bell’s Love Wins, a book that stirs up so much trouble it needs a book-length refutation. Written by one of our best and most engaging systematic theologians, Christ Alone is worth reading on its own terms apart from its thorough scriptural... Read more
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