Go ahead. Ask me what would make me happiest if I had a totally free day. I’d tell you that during such a dream day I’d be by myself, probably with a book. Right at the front of my personality assessment is a capital I that means “introvert.” It could also stand for “I want to be alone—a lot.”
Over the years, when my husband and I have tried to untangle some of the snarls in my life, sometimes he’s ventured to ask, “Noël, don’t you think it might help to have some women around you to offer other perspectives and to pray for you and maybe give some helpful suggestions?”
I knew he must be right because King Solomon said the same thing, and his wisdom was so phenomenal it left the Queen of Sheba breathless (1 Kings 10:1–13). His writings in the Bible are even called Wisdom Literature. So I thought it probably would be wise for me to pay attention when Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 4:9–10a that it’s good to have friends because they support each other....MORE
Friday, July 22, 2011
The Most Risky Profession (Christianity Today)
It's refreshing news to hear of pastors taking a leave of absence not over sexual or financial misconduct, but over pride. Such was the case with John Piper last year, and this week with C. J. Mahaney. Mahaney has been president of the church planting network Sovereign Grace Ministries, which according to its website now includes "about 95 churches," mostly on the East Coast. He is the founder of the megachurch Covenant Life Church, which he handed over to Joshua Harris after pastoring there for 27 years. He is also one of the leaders of the Together for the Gospel Conferences, and one of the most popular speakers in the neo-Reformed circuit.
The story behind his leave of absence is still unraveling. But he has publicly acknowledged that he has succumbed to "various expressions of pride, ... MORE
The story behind his leave of absence is still unraveling. But he has publicly acknowledged that he has succumbed to "various expressions of pride, ... MORE
Reparative Therapy, Homosexuality and the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Al Mohler)
Each U.S. presidential election cycle brings its own set of unexpected issues, and the 2012 race already offers one topic of controversy that truly sets it apart — a debate over forms of therapy that attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation.
Known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy, these approaches seek to assist individuals in changing their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The cultural and political debate over reparative
MORE
Known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy, these approaches seek to assist individuals in changing their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The cultural and political debate over reparative
MORE
Planned Parenthood on the Defensive (Baptist Press)
WASHINGTON (BP)--With fall and winter came the release of a series of undercover videos showing several Planned Parenthood clinics seemingly aiding and abetting the sex trafficking of underage girls. The advent of spring and summer brought denied funding to the organization by several states. Now, as the nation's largest abortion provider tries to recover from such stormy seasons, its public relations problems are only getting worse.
Americans United for Life (AUL), a leading national organization dedicated to protecting the sanctity of human life, released a report earlier this month calling for a full-scale federal investigation of Planned Parenthood for what it identifies as years of scandal, abuse and suspect allocation of taxpayer dollars.
MORE
Americans United for Life (AUL), a leading national organization dedicated to protecting the sanctity of human life, released a report earlier this month calling for a full-scale federal investigation of Planned Parenthood for what it identifies as years of scandal, abuse and suspect allocation of taxpayer dollars.
MORE
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Without the Gospel, It’s Not Missions
(By: Trevin Wax)
"Today’s post is contributed by Jerry Rankin, president emeritus of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He blogs at The Rankin File.
The gospel and missions. This subject would appear to be a no-brainer and elicit a yawning “Duh, what’s the point?” Everyone knows missions is about proclaiming the gospel. Or do they? It is amazing the discussions I have had over the years with leaders of mission agencies, denominational executives and church pastors about what is missions.
I fought the battle in Southern Baptist circles for years on the need to give specialized emphasis to missions. The retort was that this was unnecessary since everything we do is missions. In reality, if missions is everything, then it is nothing. If it is everyone’s responsibility, then it is no one’s responsibility...." MORE:
"Today’s post is contributed by Jerry Rankin, president emeritus of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He blogs at The Rankin File.
The gospel and missions. This subject would appear to be a no-brainer and elicit a yawning “Duh, what’s the point?” Everyone knows missions is about proclaiming the gospel. Or do they? It is amazing the discussions I have had over the years with leaders of mission agencies, denominational executives and church pastors about what is missions.
I fought the battle in Southern Baptist circles for years on the need to give specialized emphasis to missions. The retort was that this was unnecessary since everything we do is missions. In reality, if missions is everything, then it is nothing. If it is everyone’s responsibility, then it is no one’s responsibility...." MORE:
“Hard-Hearted”…in Believers?
(By: Dan Phillips)
""I am reading through the Gospel of Mark in Greek for my morning Bible time, and a phrase leapt out to me, not for the first time: it is Mark 6, in the Evangelist's depiction of the apostles as having "hardened hearts."
Normally we associate the phrase "hard-hearted" or even more specifically "hardened heart" with an unbeliever, or even with a reprobate. Pharaoh is the example that leaps to mind.
However, in Mark 6:52 we read "for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." This is the Evangelist's explanation for why the apostles were gobsmacked by Jesus' walking on the water and stilling of the storm. They were unprepared, and nonplussed. They had not made the connection between the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and Jesus' divine nature, because their hearts were hardened...." MORE:
""I am reading through the Gospel of Mark in Greek for my morning Bible time, and a phrase leapt out to me, not for the first time: it is Mark 6, in the Evangelist's depiction of the apostles as having "hardened hearts."
Normally we associate the phrase "hard-hearted" or even more specifically "hardened heart" with an unbeliever, or even with a reprobate. Pharaoh is the example that leaps to mind.
However, in Mark 6:52 we read "for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." This is the Evangelist's explanation for why the apostles were gobsmacked by Jesus' walking on the water and stilling of the storm. They were unprepared, and nonplussed. They had not made the connection between the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and Jesus' divine nature, because their hearts were hardened...." MORE:
Failure is Not an Option: The Problem with Overprotective Parenting
(By: Collin Hansen)
"Your kids will fail. This is both inevitable and also necessary. Apparently not many parents today want to hear this uncomfortable fact. And they certainly don’t want to implement it in how they discipline their children. Writing the cover story for The Atlantic’s July/August issue, therapist Lori Gottlieb alerts us that the cult of self-esteem is ruining our kids. Convinced they are the center of the universe and capable of anything, our children have become insufferable narcissists. Then, when these kids grow up and fail, as they must, they head for the nearest therapist, worried their lives have gone horribly wrong. Gottlieb writes:
....Rates of anxiety and depression have also risen in tandem with self-esteem. Why is this? “Narcissists are happy when they’re younger, because they’re the center of the universe,” [psychology professor Jean] Twenge explains. “Their parents act like their servants, shuttling them to any activity they choose and catering to their every desire. Parents are constantly telling their children how special and talented they are. This gives them an inflated view of their specialness compared to other human beings. Instead of feeling good about themselves, they feel better than everyone else.”" MORE:
"Your kids will fail. This is both inevitable and also necessary. Apparently not many parents today want to hear this uncomfortable fact. And they certainly don’t want to implement it in how they discipline their children. Writing the cover story for The Atlantic’s July/August issue, therapist Lori Gottlieb alerts us that the cult of self-esteem is ruining our kids. Convinced they are the center of the universe and capable of anything, our children have become insufferable narcissists. Then, when these kids grow up and fail, as they must, they head for the nearest therapist, worried their lives have gone horribly wrong. Gottlieb writes:
....Rates of anxiety and depression have also risen in tandem with self-esteem. Why is this? “Narcissists are happy when they’re younger, because they’re the center of the universe,” [psychology professor Jean] Twenge explains. “Their parents act like their servants, shuttling them to any activity they choose and catering to their every desire. Parents are constantly telling their children how special and talented they are. This gives them an inflated view of their specialness compared to other human beings. Instead of feeling good about themselves, they feel better than everyone else.”" MORE:
Unrealistic Expectations: Gay “Marriage” and Fidelity
by: (Chuck Colson)
"No doubt you’ve heard friends -- even Christian friends -- and you hear them say, “Well, why shouldn’t gays be able to marry like anyone else? What will it hurt? It won’t affect marriage, and it will help them build stable families.”
Certainly that’s the line of thinking that won the day in New York, which just legalized so-called gay marriage.
But nothing could be further from the truth, as illustrated by a recent New York Times article entitled “Married, With Infidelities.” The writer, Mark Oppenheimer, asked whether “we make unrealistic demands” on marriage. The “unrealistic demands” he's talking about are monogamy..." MORE:
"No doubt you’ve heard friends -- even Christian friends -- and you hear them say, “Well, why shouldn’t gays be able to marry like anyone else? What will it hurt? It won’t affect marriage, and it will help them build stable families.”
Certainly that’s the line of thinking that won the day in New York, which just legalized so-called gay marriage.
But nothing could be further from the truth, as illustrated by a recent New York Times article entitled “Married, With Infidelities.” The writer, Mark Oppenheimer, asked whether “we make unrealistic demands” on marriage. The “unrealistic demands” he's talking about are monogamy..." MORE:
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Evangelicals and the Gay Moral Revolution (WSJ – Al Mohler)
The Christian church has faced no shortage of challenges in its 2,000-year history. But now it's facing a challenge that is shaking its foundations: homosexuality.
To many onlookers, this seems strange or even tragic. Why can't Christians just join the revolution?
And make no mistake, it is a moral revolution. As philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton University demonstrated in his recent book, "The Honor Code," moral revolutions generally happen over a long period of time. But this is hardly the case with the shift we've witnessed on the question of homosexuality. MORE...
To many onlookers, this seems strange or even tragic. Why can't Christians just join the revolution?
And make no mistake, it is a moral revolution. As philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton University demonstrated in his recent book, "The Honor Code," moral revolutions generally happen over a long period of time. But this is hardly the case with the shift we've witnessed on the question of homosexuality. MORE...
The Sex Test, Abortion and the War against Girls (Timothy Dalrymple)
It is one of the cruelest ironies of the modern abortion movement that while the movement advanced under the banner of women’s rights, it is unborn girls, in monstrously disproportionate number, who have been aborted.
If you must read only one thing this weekend, it should be Jonathan Last’s book review of “Unnatural Selection” by Mara Hvistendahl in today’s Wall Street Journal. Hvistendahl’s book treats the spread of sex-based abortion and the deleterious consequences for societies that systematically abort females. Read it first for the statistics, which are gobsmacking. The natural birthrate is 104-106 boys for every 100 girls. Yet Hvistendahl — who is reflexively pro-choice, by the way — documents the wild disproportions abortion produces around the world: MORE...
If you must read only one thing this weekend, it should be Jonathan Last’s book review of “Unnatural Selection” by Mara Hvistendahl in today’s Wall Street Journal. Hvistendahl’s book treats the spread of sex-based abortion and the deleterious consequences for societies that systematically abort females. Read it first for the statistics, which are gobsmacking. The natural birthrate is 104-106 boys for every 100 girls. Yet Hvistendahl — who is reflexively pro-choice, by the way — documents the wild disproportions abortion produces around the world: MORE...
Woe to Me If I Don’t Evangelize (Brent Nelson)
Editor’s Note: “There is a difference between having a rational judgement that honey is sweet and having a sense of its sweetness,” Jonathan Edwards wrote. “A man may have the former that knows not how honey tastes.” The Bible often describes our knowledge of God and his gospel with experiential language, using “sense” language like “taste and see” or the “eyes of the heart.” The term Christians have used to identify this emotive knowing is spirituality. Expressions of spirituality have taken many different forms, from Catholic mysticism to Pentecostalism. Evangelicals rejoice in the objective work of Christ in the gospel, yet an important aspect of our knowledge of the goodness of God and his saving work is through, what Edwards calls, “the sense of the heart.” That’s hard to define and often harder to bring about. So, over the next several articles, writers for The Gospel Coalition will consider issues related to evangelical spirituality. MORE...
Unpacking the Casey Anthony Case
(by Chris Brauns)
I didn’t follow the Casey Anthony case closely enough to offer any meaningful opinions about guilt or innocence.
But one of my goals with Unpacking Forgiveness was to consider situations when the wounds are deep and justice seems far away. When a case such as this is so much in the center of public awareness, it is critical that Christians interact responsibly with it and take the opportunity to point people to the Cross. To that end, I offer some basic principles regarding how we ought to respond. MORE
I didn’t follow the Casey Anthony case closely enough to offer any meaningful opinions about guilt or innocence.
But one of my goals with Unpacking Forgiveness was to consider situations when the wounds are deep and justice seems far away. When a case such as this is so much in the center of public awareness, it is critical that Christians interact responsibly with it and take the opportunity to point people to the Cross. To that end, I offer some basic principles regarding how we ought to respond. MORE
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Importance of Evangelism
Divine Mathematics: The Importance of Evangelism (Jesse Johnson)
If we can agree that the goal of the Christian life is to glorify God as much as is possible, then there really is only one natural question: what is the single most God-glorifying action a Christian can do?
Some may argue that all elements of a Christians life, such as prayer, fasting, worship, parenting, sanctification, etc., are equally important. But I disagree. While all spiritual disciplines are interconnected—if your prayer time falters, so do your affections for Jesus, and then your sanctification falters, and then you sin—they are not all equal. I argue that evangelism is the single most important action for a Christian, and I measure importance by the way an action glorifies God. Pastor MacArthur has often said “nothing so much glorifies God as his gracious redemption of hell bound sinners,” and if the chief purpose of mankind is to glorify God, nothing glorifies God as effectively as evangelism.... MORE...
If we can agree that the goal of the Christian life is to glorify God as much as is possible, then there really is only one natural question: what is the single most God-glorifying action a Christian can do?
Some may argue that all elements of a Christians life, such as prayer, fasting, worship, parenting, sanctification, etc., are equally important. But I disagree. While all spiritual disciplines are interconnected—if your prayer time falters, so do your affections for Jesus, and then your sanctification falters, and then you sin—they are not all equal. I argue that evangelism is the single most important action for a Christian, and I measure importance by the way an action glorifies God. Pastor MacArthur has often said “nothing so much glorifies God as his gracious redemption of hell bound sinners,” and if the chief purpose of mankind is to glorify God, nothing glorifies God as effectively as evangelism.... MORE...
NY Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
The Empire State’s Moral Revolution: New York Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage (Al Mohler)
The legal, social, moral, and political maps of America were redefined last Friday night as the New York State Senate voted 33-29 to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The State Assembly had already approved the measure, leaving the Republican-controlled Senate the last battleground on the marriage issue. Shortly after the Senate approved the measure, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law. It will take effect in July, thirty days after the Governor’s signature was affixed.
It will be difficult to exaggerate the impact of New York’s move to legalize same-sex marriage. The statistics tell part of the story. New York State becomes the sixth state to recognize same-sex marriage, but its population is greater than that of the other five combined. When same-sex marriage is legal in New York next month, fully one in every nine Americans will live in a state or jurisdiction where same-sex marriage is legal. MORE...
The legal, social, moral, and political maps of America were redefined last Friday night as the New York State Senate voted 33-29 to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The State Assembly had already approved the measure, leaving the Republican-controlled Senate the last battleground on the marriage issue. Shortly after the Senate approved the measure, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law. It will take effect in July, thirty days after the Governor’s signature was affixed.
It will be difficult to exaggerate the impact of New York’s move to legalize same-sex marriage. The statistics tell part of the story. New York State becomes the sixth state to recognize same-sex marriage, but its population is greater than that of the other five combined. When same-sex marriage is legal in New York next month, fully one in every nine Americans will live in a state or jurisdiction where same-sex marriage is legal. MORE...
Did We Really Blow the Rob Bell Situation?
Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Did We Really Blow the Rob Bell Situation? (Phil Johnson)
Last week on Tim Challies' podcast, the guest was Kenneth J. Stewart, author of IVP's Ten Myths About Calvinism: Recovering the Breadth of the Reformed Tradition. Among other things, he claimed that the "uncoordinated . . . response of the conservative Reformed world" to Rob Bell's Love Wins constituted "a display of our disunity. . . a display of our failure to coordinate."
In Professor Stewart's words:
What I think our constituency was guilty of in that case is overkill. There might have been select spokesmen put forward from within our constituency, and they would be told to go to it. But we had too many people on the attack; too many people going for the jugular, and our movement displayed its unlovely side... MORE...
Last week on Tim Challies' podcast, the guest was Kenneth J. Stewart, author of IVP's Ten Myths About Calvinism: Recovering the Breadth of the Reformed Tradition. Among other things, he claimed that the "uncoordinated . . . response of the conservative Reformed world" to Rob Bell's Love Wins constituted "a display of our disunity. . . a display of our failure to coordinate."
In Professor Stewart's words:
What I think our constituency was guilty of in that case is overkill. There might have been select spokesmen put forward from within our constituency, and they would be told to go to it. But we had too many people on the attack; too many people going for the jugular, and our movement displayed its unlovely side... MORE...
Baptism
Is Baptism a Big Deal? (Craig Blomberg)
"I know believers’ baptism by immersion appears to be the New Testament model, but I don’t want to upset my parents who had me baptized in good faith as an infant.”
“Isn’t it great? I go to a church that doesn’t make a big deal out of baptism. So it can’t be divisive. If you want to have your babies baptized, you can. If you want to be immersed as a believer you can do that to. But no form of baptism is a prerequisite for membership.”
“I’ve never been baptized in any way, shape or form. But I’ve followed Jesus since I was six and now I’m thirty-six. Baptism wouldn’t make any sense for me now, would it?” .... MORE...
"I know believers’ baptism by immersion appears to be the New Testament model, but I don’t want to upset my parents who had me baptized in good faith as an infant.”
“Isn’t it great? I go to a church that doesn’t make a big deal out of baptism. So it can’t be divisive. If you want to have your babies baptized, you can. If you want to be immersed as a believer you can do that to. But no form of baptism is a prerequisite for membership.”
“I’ve never been baptized in any way, shape or form. But I’ve followed Jesus since I was six and now I’m thirty-six. Baptism wouldn’t make any sense for me now, would it?” .... MORE...
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