Blog Discerning JudgmentThursday, April 10, 2014 Exercising discernment is not only the duty of pastors and elders. The same careful discernment Paul demanded of church leadership is also required of every Christian. Continue Reading... Discerning LeadersWednesday, April 09, 2014 In my previous post on discernment I closed by quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22, which is essentially the biblical recipe for discernment: “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” Continue Reading... A Conscience Captive to God's WordThursday, April 03, 2014 When Martin Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms in 1521 and asked to recant his teaching, he replied, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Continue Reading... Faith Minus Reason Equals Irrational UnbeliefTuesday, April 01, 2014 Many people mistakenly think of faith as inherently noble. Continue Reading... Continue Reading... Continue Reading...
An FAQ on Christianity for the Unbeliever There’s a brand new thing out there that has been confusing and frightening people lately: Christians. The first prominent Christian anyone ever heard of was probably Tim Tebow, and his appearance on the national scene was quite alarming to many, as his “Christian” behavior was seen as quite odd and new. More recently, people have learned about Dan Cathy and are disturbed to discover that some businesses may possibly be owned by Christians who express Christian-type views. And then there is Olympic champion gymnast Gabby Douglas, whose constant profession of faith in God is so frightening that an extremely bewildered author wrote an article about her in Salon. Since ignorance is what leads us to fear something (unless we’re talking about platypuses, as the more you know about them, the scarier they are — did you know they’re poisonous?), I thought I’d write an FAQ about Christians to help explain what these strange new people are, so everyone won’t be all freaked out about them. No.
Conventional Thinking The Limitations of Kitten Hugging Whenever you propose something, as I propose a return to mere Christendom, one of the natural objections people raise is the objection of trajectories — as in, “that’s all very well, but what might this lead to next?” Given this sinfulness of this world, and the genius we have for corrupting everything we touch, this is actually a reasonable question. What is unreasonable, however, is the way the question is asked. You see, if we accept that Jesus is Lord, and that He is the final authority in our civic and public affairs, we might find ourselves, much to the consternation of fair-minded individuals, burning witches and stoning rebellious teenagers. Okay. As Richard Weaver wonderfully put it, ideas have consequences. There are two other points to make. That makes no sense, at least on paper. Where this does make sense is in the fact that the root of secularism is actually a rejection of the Christian faith, and the root of Islam is also a rejection of the Christian faith.
Desiring God Blog Blog By Topic Subscribe David Mathis Wednesday went quietly. Too quietly. With the previous three days awash in drama — Sunday’s triumphal entry, Monday’s temple cleansing, and Tuesday’s temple controversies — now Wednesday, April 1, A.D. 33, comes like the calm before the storm. But out of sight, lurking in the shadows, evil is afoot. Marshall Segal Sometimes it’s hard to sort out our lives before Christ. In his new single “Crimson Cord,” Propaganda pulls on the scarlet thread of God’s love in the past of the believer. Justin Taylor and Andreas Köstenberger It is now Tuesday morning, March 31, A.D. 33. Now if the disciples had ears to hear they would recognize that Jesus is talking about more than seemingly magical powers that can curse trees and crumble mountains.... Jonathan Parnell To help you make the most of Holy Week, we’ve ventured into the archive to find five of the best Piper articles related to the Easter season. 1. Just... Jon Bloom Ben Stuart “How do I love my wife well?”
Why the Arguments for Gay Marriage Are Persuasive With two landmark gay marriage cases before the Supreme Court we are already seeing a flurry of articles, posts, tweets, and status updates about the triumph it will be when America finally embraces equality for all and allows homosexuals to love each other. These tweets and posts and articles perfectly capture the reason why the arguments for gay marriage have become so persuasive so fast. Given the assumptions and patterns of thinking our culture has embraced in the last fifty years, the case for gay marriage is relatively easy to make and the case against it makes increasingly little sense. I don’t think the arguments for gay marriage are biblically faithfully, logically persuasive, or good for human flourishing in the long run, but they are almost impossible to overcome with most Americans, especially in younger generations. Think of all the ways gay marriage fits in with our cultural mood and assumptions. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. So what can be done? 2) We need more courage.
The Blazing Center The Gospel Coalition Worship Matters | worship leader, worship blog, advice for worship leaders and pastors.