In two-thirds of all congregations and nine in ten PC(USA) congregations, the key pastoral leader has earned a master’s degree. Women lead one-quarter of PC(USA) congregations, as well as one-quarter of mainline Protestant congregations, but only 12 percent of all congregations.

Thus, a Christian businessman who works for a company that espouses Christian principles answered a question from a Christian news agency with a response that has been the Christian viewpoint for over two thousand years (I did the math).

Would I, if given the opportunity, want to go back to the '50s and '60s and live in that golden era of Southern Baptist life? Not in a heartbeat, and here is why: While I sometimes envy those pastors who lived and worked during that time of growth and prosperity, hindsight tells me their approach to theology and polity was somewhat one-dimensional, and their mission orientation was simplistic and lacking.

“In Romans 3:8, Paul establishes a standard that we ought not do evil in order to bring about good. ... The fellow who buys a condom or the woman who takes the pill does so for a specific reason: they do not trust themselves to remain chaste when presented with the opportunity,”

Every year more state money goes to deal with the high incidence of homosexual domestic violence. Since "gay marriage" began, Massachusetts has one of the highest proportions of homosexuals living as couples in the country. Given the extremely dysfunctional nature of homosexual relationships, the Massachusetts Legislature has felt the need to spend more and more money to deal with that problem.

The House of Representatives recently voted to defund all National Science Foundation funding of political science. The House also approved cutting the American Community Survey and the Economic Census, which together provide key economic data such as quarterly estimates of gross domestic product. Senate Democrats oppose the cuts, which are not expected to become law

(Editor's Note: Franchise owner Erik Devriendt and his wife, Kate, are members of Grace Community (PCA) in Mechanicsville, VA (Erik is a Deacon) and are - along with their two young children - part of the launch team that is planting a daughter congregation in the city to be known as Northside Church of Richmond

"The Kentucky Court of Appeals has issued a sweeping invalidation of seminary tenure in the Commonwealth of Kentucky," said Jones. “They have turned a CME layman and a Jewish academic into ministers of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).” That in itself, he said, violates religious freedom.

The church, which claims 15,000 regular attendees, posted a news release on its website stating that Schaap was dismissed "due to a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor. ... Our church grieves over the need to take this action and the impact it will have on our people."

In his chapter, Thomas outlines several bad homiletical models. Surprisingly, every model indicts our heroes. Thomas is quick to say that the model itself may not be the problem, but the use of it often is. Even our favorite preachers or favorite kinds of preaching carry with them great dangers, especially when they are held up as the way to do things.