Why I Am a Continuationist – The Gospel Coalition Blog

I am not writing on this topic because I have the final answer on spiritual gifts, for the matter is difficult and Christians who love God and the Bible disagree. Readers should know that Sam Storms and I are friends. We love one another, even though we differ on a secondary or tertiary issue, while at the same time upholding the importance of truth. Over the years I've become convinced that some of the so-called charismatic gifts are no longer given and that they aren't a regular feature of life in the church. I am thinking particularly of the the gifts of apostleship, prophecy, tongues, healing, and miracles (and perhaps discernment of spirits).

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Why I Am a Cessationist – The Gospel Coalition Blog

I am not writing on this topic because I have the final answer on spiritual gifts, for the matter is difficult and Christians who love God and the Bible disagree. Readers should know that Sam Storms and I are friends. We love one another, even though we differ on a secondary or tertiary issue, while at the same time upholding the importance of truth. Over the years I've become convinced that some of the so-called charismatic gifts are no longer given and that they aren't a regular feature of life in the church. I am thinking particularly of the the gifts of apostleship, prophecy, tongues, healing, and miracles (and perhaps discernment of spirits).  MORE: Why I Am a Cessationist – The Gospel Coalition Blog

Obamacare and Abortion: Forcing Individuals to Fund Elective Abortion Coverage

Because of legislative loopholes and onerous mandates, Obamacare will entangle taxpayer funds in abortion coverage offered on state exchanges and could force many Americans to unwittingly pay an abortion surcharge with private dollars. Additional taxpayer fund­ing and mandates on insurers could also provide increased funding and coverage for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. To truly protect taxpayers, individuals, and families from subsidizing health plans that include coverage of abortion, Obamacare must be repealed in its entirety. Americans deserve health care reform that allows individuals and families to choose health care that meets their needs without violating their beliefs or subsidizing life-ending drugs and procedures.

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Obamacare and Abortion: Forcing Individuals to Fund Elective Abortion Coverage

Roe v. Wade's Days Are Numbered | Christianity Today

Forty years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade decision, a leading pro-life legal expert believes the decision has never been more vulnerable to being overturned.


In his new book, Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade, Clark Forsythe, senior legal counsel at Americans United for Life, details what he uncovered in examining the private papers of the justices, their case files, and oral arguments. After 20 years of research, Forsythe found that:

•The justices decided to hear Roe under a misunderstanding that it concerned state criminal prosecutions, not a constitutional right to abortion.

•They arbitrarily expanded fetal viability from 12 weeks to 28 weeks with little discussion or medical knowledge.

•The Court's majority relied heavily on popular, but unproved, '70s-era evidence that there was an urgent need for population control in the United States.

Since Roe, there have been 50 million abortions in the United States. Currently, there are about 1 million per year. But public opinion has slowly been shifting toward ending abortion on

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9 Things You Should Know About Planned Parenthood – The Gospel Coalition Blog

Today, President Obama will give a speech at Planned Parenthood Federation of America's 75th anniversary gala, making him the first sitting president to address the group. Here are nine things you should know about the nation's largest abortion provider.

1. Planned Parenthood Federation of America has 95 affiliates and 865 health centers, according to its latest annual report, which covers the 2008-09 fiscal year. They require that at least one clinic per affiliate must perform abortions. PP performs over 320,000 abortions a year.

2. The motto for this year's gala is "Our past is our prologue." Part of the past the organization will be celebrating includes its founding by the notorious racist and eugenicist Margaret Sanger. Sanger wanted to control the reproduction of immigrants, the poor, certain religious groups, and anyone else she thought was from an "unacceptable" heritage. Sanger referred to such people as reckless breeders who were "unceasingly spawning a class of human beings who never should have been born at all . . ." In 1939 Sanger started the "Negro Project" and attempted to get Christian ministers to aid her effort. As she wrote in a letter to a fellow eugenicist, "we do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."

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9 Things You Should Know About Planned Parenthood – The Gospel Coalition Blog

2013: Clinics close, abortions drop, an industry retrenches

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January 2, 2014 (NRLN) - Despite the current occupant in the White House and the dominance of abortion sympathizers in the U.S. Senate, 2013 was a year of some notable successes for the pro-life movement.

Cruel and callous practices of the abortion industry were exposed, several clinics were closed, and media popularity campaigns notwithstanding, significant regulations and important pieces of pro-life legislation were passed. Confirmation of a considerable drop in the number of abortions arrived courtesy of the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

This hardly passed by unnoticed by the abortion industry. Losing customers, losing public support, and losing significant legislative battles, the industry fought back with media campaigns of its own. It created new celebrities, developed new marketing strategies, published slanted studies, and made some significant adjustments to its business model.

Despite the current occupant in the White House and the dominance of abortion sympathizers in the U.S. Senate, 2013 was a year of some notable successes for the pro-life movement.

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Though it wasn’t until May that Kermit Gosnell was officially convicted on three counts of first-degree murder, news of the barbarity that went on at his Philadelphia abortion clinic had already gradually seeped out. While media coverage before and after the trial was underwhelming, the public learned something about what goes on in the abortion industry. Not just filthy, appalling clinic conditions tolerated by local and state authorities (not to mention industry groups that were supposed to uphold basic health and treatment standards) but also of the general callous disregard one of the nation’s preeminent abortionists had for the welfare of his patients—mother and child.

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Should a Woman Marry a Man Who Has a Problem with Pornography?

This question is an urgent one given the importance of marriage, and the pervasive problem that pornography is in our culture. Many women have been concerned about this problem, and many more are sure to follow in their footsteps. I want to respond to this question in three ways: with a short answer, with a long answer, and by posing a more helpful consideration. First, the short answer. There is a clear and... MORE

A "Gospel" that Almost Killed Me | 9Marks

I’m in a bathtub. I can’t get up. I feel like I’m about to die. Mercury poisoning.




The water in the tub has grown cold. Maybe that’s why I feel so cold. I’ve been marinating in my own soup stock for the past two hours. I’m floating in and out of consciousness. Whenever I can concentrate I begin to pray.

“Jesus, please, save me. Please, heal me. I repent, I put my whole heart into prayer right now, and I cast out any doubt or fear. I know you can heal me. Please heal me!”

My mom’s keys are rattling in the doorknob now, and I hear the door thud shut in the distance. I hear her purse sliding across the counter and her keys landing next to it. I barely recognize her figure as she tries with all of her wiry might to pull me out of the tub. I spend the next two days in the hospital. My mom wants to know why I didn’t let her know, why I didn’t want to go to the hospital, why I didn’t do something.

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Is Recreational Marijuana Use a Sin? – The Gospel Coalition Blog

Last November, citizens of Colorado voted on Amendment 64, an amendment to their state's constitution that would allow the "personal use and regulation of marijuana" for adults 21 and over, as well as commercial cultivation, manufacture, and sale, effectively regulating cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol. The first stores selling marijuana for recreational use officially opened on January 1, 2014.


While the new legislation applies only to Colorado (Washington state passed a similar measure, though marijuana is still illegal in all other states and at the federal level), Americans across the nation are beginning to examine questions related to the use of marijuana. For Christians, one of the most pertinent questions is whether the recreational use of marijuana is sinful.

Is Recreational Marijuana Use a Sin? – The Gospel Coalition Blog