During his time as a cardinal, Ratzinger’s liberal Catholic critics dubbed him “God’s Rottweiler” because of conservatives positions and actions such as his denunciation of homosexuality and same-sex marriage, his disciplining of Latin American liberation theologians, and his censure of Asian priests who viewed non-Christian religions as part of God’s plan for humanity.   As... Continue Reading

If all else fails, the final step is to announce triumphantly and with a terrific celebration of grace that “Christ is, in an amoral fashion, the end of the law” and charge others with legalism if they don’t share in your antinomianism.   Tom Oden, writing in his book Requiem way back in 1995, explains... Continue Reading

But how exactly can we recognize whether someone’s teaching is prone to leading us astray or not? As I look at the best-selling Christian books in America, I see much that is mis-leading or deceptive and some that is rich and Biblically faithful. How can we tell the difference?   How Can You Tell if... Continue Reading

If Darwinian theorists are right, then all forms of love and virtue are genetic illusions. They don’t exist outside the human psyche. Which means they don’t really exist. Love is fundamentally a utilitarian mirage adapted by our genes through natural selection to be among the most effective means (yet) of our survival.   Darwinian theorists... Continue Reading

As Protestant Christians, we will disagree with this Pope, and with the next one, on all sorts of things. Here we stand, we can do no other; God help us. But let’s pray the next Pope, like this one, will remember what it means to be human, and will remind the rest of us when... Continue Reading

We must be careful how we define ministry readiness and spiritual maturity. There is a danger in thinking that the well-educated and well-trained seminary graduate is ministry ready or to mistake ministry knowledge, busyness, and skill with personal spiritual maturity. Maturity is a vertical thing that will have a wide variety of horizontal expressions. Maturity... Continue Reading

God chose the foolishness of Gospel preaching to save them that believe (1 Cor. 1:21). The Gospel message is foolishness to the world. But so is the Gospel medium – preaching. Who in their right mind would choose a regular 30-45 minute monologue from one sinful man to many sinful hearers to communicate the most... Continue Reading

Instead, we heap expectations on our pastors. We pile the demands on them and build the pressure on them to an unsustainable level. We oblige them to speak in detail on subjects they have no clue about. This differs from pastor to pastor. Some might have an affinity for politics and other may be trained... Continue Reading

An EF-4 tornado struck Hattiesburg, MS two days ago causing considerable damage. While there are a number of people who were injured, by God’s grace, no deaths have been reported. The University of Southern Mississippi was in the path of the storm and has sustained damaged to several buildings. What follows is an update from... Continue Reading

Millennials were less likely to think about social problems, make efforts to conserve natural resources, be interested in or participate in government, voting, contacting their representatives, participate in demonstrations or boycotts or giving money to political causes. The decline in environmental concern and action are markedly steep. Remarkably, three times as many Millennials said they... Continue Reading