Friday, July 19, 2013
The damning euphemism called “selective reduction” | Denny Burk
The video above features a woman named Amy Richards telling her story about “selective reduction” (HT: @drmoore). If you are unfamiliar with the term, it’s a euphemism for killing one or more unborn babies when there are multiples in a womb. In Richards’ case, she found out that she was pregnant with triplets. In the video above, she describes her fateful decision to have two of her triplets killed. In a 2004 Op-Ed for The New York Times, she describes why she refused to allow all of her children to live: MORE: The damning euphemism called “selective reduction” | Denny Burk
The Main Ingredient in Effective Prayer - Desiring God
It’s tragic how easily we can miss the main ingredient in effective prayer.
In our sin, we’ve been rewired to focus on us — on the steps we should take for our prayers to be heard. We have this bent toward believing that every result is born from method. If something works for somebody we want to know what that somebody is doing. MORE: The Main Ingredient in Effective Prayer - Desiring God
In our sin, we’ve been rewired to focus on us — on the steps we should take for our prayers to be heard. We have this bent toward believing that every result is born from method. If something works for somebody we want to know what that somebody is doing. MORE: The Main Ingredient in Effective Prayer - Desiring God
4 Goals to Pursue in Parenting by William Boekestein | Ligonier Ministries Blog
Near the end of Colossians 3 God speaks his will to people who play a role in six different relationships; Wives, husbands, children, fathers, bondservants, and masters. Only to fathers does God NOT speak a positive command. He simply says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (Col. 3:21). Perhaps by doing so, God is accentuating the uniquely devastating problem of parental provocation. Still, Ephesians 6:4 teaches us that there is a clear alternative to provocative parenting. MORE: 4 Goals to Pursue in Parenting by William Boekestein | Ligonier Ministries Blog
Saturday, July 13, 2013
SBTS Resources » The Challenge of Islam—A Christian Perspective
The issue of Islam is never far from our headlines. Early in his administration, President Barack Obama put the issue of Islam front and center on the international stage. His visits to Islamic-dominated lands and his public statements to the Muslim world have raised a host of questions at home and abroad.
In a speech to the Turkish parliament, President Obama declared: “The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam.” He went on to say that “our partnership with the Muslim world is critical not just in rolling back the violent ideologies that people of all faiths reject, but also to strengthen opportunity for all its people.”
But the President also spoke of his “deep appreciation for the Islamic faith.” Here is the statement in context:
(MORE): SBTS Resources » The Challenge of Islam—A Christian Perspective
In a speech to the Turkish parliament, President Obama declared: “The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam.” He went on to say that “our partnership with the Muslim world is critical not just in rolling back the violent ideologies that people of all faiths reject, but also to strengthen opportunity for all its people.”
But the President also spoke of his “deep appreciation for the Islamic faith.” Here is the statement in context:
(MORE): SBTS Resources » The Challenge of Islam—A Christian Perspective
Baptist Press - Washington now leads in assisted suicides - News with a Christian Perspective
WASHINGTON (BP) -- Washington has become the No. 1 state for physician-assisted suicide.
Physician-assisted suicide represents doctors' failure "to exercise their professional responsibility never to harm patients." –- C. Ben Mitchell
At least 83 people in Washington died in 2012 after taking lethal doses of drugs prescribed by doctors, the State Department of Health reported June 20. That total pushed Washington beyond Oregon, which has had legalized assisted suicide 12 years longer and has always held the annual record for such deaths. Earlier this year, Oregon reported 77 assisted suicide deaths in 2012 for its highest total ever.
The increase in assisted suicides annually from 36 to 83 since 2009 prompted Southern Baptist bioethicist C. Ben Mitchell to say Washington's "numbers are chilling."
Washington, which legalized assisted suicide in 2009, has reported 240 such deaths in less than four years. Oregon has reported 673 deaths by assisted suicide since its Death With Dignity Act went into effect in 1997, according to the state's Public Health Division.
MORE: Baptist Press - Washington now leads in assisted suicides - News with a Christian Perspective
Physician-assisted suicide represents doctors' failure "to exercise their professional responsibility never to harm patients." –- C. Ben Mitchell
At least 83 people in Washington died in 2012 after taking lethal doses of drugs prescribed by doctors, the State Department of Health reported June 20. That total pushed Washington beyond Oregon, which has had legalized assisted suicide 12 years longer and has always held the annual record for such deaths. Earlier this year, Oregon reported 77 assisted suicide deaths in 2012 for its highest total ever.
The increase in assisted suicides annually from 36 to 83 since 2009 prompted Southern Baptist bioethicist C. Ben Mitchell to say Washington's "numbers are chilling."
Washington, which legalized assisted suicide in 2009, has reported 240 such deaths in less than four years. Oregon has reported 673 deaths by assisted suicide since its Death With Dignity Act went into effect in 1997, according to the state's Public Health Division.
MORE: Baptist Press - Washington now leads in assisted suicides - News with a Christian Perspective
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
9 Things You Should Know About the Bible – The Gospel Coalition Blog
The primary thing everyone should know about the Bible is that, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16). But here are an additional 9 things that you should know about the best-selling book of all time:
1. The English word Bible is derived from the Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία (ta biblia - "the books"). While Christian use of the term can be traced to around A.D. 223, the late biblical scholar F.F. Bruce noted that Chrysostom in his Homilies on Matthew (between A.D. 386 and 388) appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together.
2. The word "testament" (Hebrew berîth, Greek diatheke), means "covenant." The term "Old Testament" refers to the covenant which God entered into with Abraham and the people of Israel, and "New Testament" to the covenant God has entered into with believers through Christ.
3. The practice of dividing the Bible into chapters began with Stephen Langton, an Archbishop of Canterbury in the early 13th century. Robert Estienne, a 16th-century printer and classical scholar in Paris, was the first to print the Bible divided into standard numbered verses.
MORE: 9 Things You Should Know About the Bible – The Gospel Coalition Blog
2. The word "testament" (Hebrew berîth, Greek diatheke), means "covenant." The term "Old Testament" refers to the covenant which God entered into with Abraham and the people of Israel, and "New Testament" to the covenant God has entered into with believers through Christ.
3. The practice of dividing the Bible into chapters began with Stephen Langton, an Archbishop of Canterbury in the early 13th century. Robert Estienne, a 16th-century printer and classical scholar in Paris, was the first to print the Bible divided into standard numbered verses.
MORE: 9 Things You Should Know About the Bible – The Gospel Coalition Blog
Moore to the Point – How Should You Explain the Same-Sex Marriage Debate to Your Children?
With the recent Supreme Court decisions all over the news, some Christian parents wonder how they ought to explain all of this to their small children. I’ve faced the same question as my children have asked, “What is the Supreme Court doing that’s keeping you so busy?” So how does one teach the controversy, without exposing one’s children to more than they can handle?
First of all, you should, I think, talk to your children about this. No matter how you shelter your family, keeping your children from knowing about the contested questions about marriage would take a “Truman Show”-level choreography of their lives. That’s not realistic, nor is it particularly Christian.
The Bible isn’t nearly as antiseptic as Christians sometimes pretend to be, and it certainly doesn’t shirk back from addressing all the complexities of human life. If we are discipling our children, let’s apply the Scriptures to all of life. If we refuse to talk to our children about some issue that is clearly before them, our children will assume we are unequipped to speak to it, and they’ll eventually search out a worldview that will.
MORE:
Moore to the Point – How Should You Explain the Same-Sex Marriage Debate to Your Children?
First of all, you should, I think, talk to your children about this. No matter how you shelter your family, keeping your children from knowing about the contested questions about marriage would take a “Truman Show”-level choreography of their lives. That’s not realistic, nor is it particularly Christian.
The Bible isn’t nearly as antiseptic as Christians sometimes pretend to be, and it certainly doesn’t shirk back from addressing all the complexities of human life. If we are discipling our children, let’s apply the Scriptures to all of life. If we refuse to talk to our children about some issue that is clearly before them, our children will assume we are unequipped to speak to it, and they’ll eventually search out a worldview that will.
MORE:
Moore to the Point – How Should You Explain the Same-Sex Marriage Debate to Your Children?
Can God Bless America?
In this era of terrorism, poverty, oppression and a few less-distinct enemies, waves of patriotism occasionally revive the slogan “God Bless America.” Sadly, though, the sentiment long ago became a cliché to which people rarely give serious thought. The phrase is even seen, ironically, on bumper stickers adjacent to other bumper stickers expressing humanistic and atheistic sentiments. One assumes that even those who don’t believe in God want His blessing on ournation.Anti-God philosophies and worldviews now clearly dominate most of Western society. God has been removed from public discourse; prayer has been virtually banned from the public arena; agnosticism and humanism dominate public policy. So it is remarkable that the slogan “God Bless America” is still in vogue. We have to wonder what most people have in mind when they repeatit.
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