Don’t Listen to Sermons
If you’re listening to sermons because you want to borrow someone else’s preaching mojo, then turn it off.
You can all too easily get into a mentality of worrying about trying to top your last sermon rather than faithfully preaching the text and relying upon the Spirit to empower you and apply it to the hearts of your congregants. By no means am I advocating slothfulness in the pulpit. Work hard to prepare your... Continue Reading
Welcome to Pride Month, Christian
Social justice demands our opposition to its celebration and symbols.
And so surely the Christian cause of this month should be opposing Pride Month and its flag in as public and strident a way as many have opposed racism and its symbols. Let us have many blog posts and tweets on the topic. And may we even have pointed op-eds and major articles slamming Pride... Continue Reading
Why Our Churches Should be Beautiful
Beautiful sacred spaces provide powerful opportunities for witness and worship.
A beautiful church is not something that is only reserved for centuries-old mainline denominations, or congregations with resources to spare. Instead, a beautiful church can be a powerful witness to the community, connect us with the traditions of our ancient and sufficient faith, remind us of the beauty of God and his provision, and shape... Continue Reading
A Reflection on the Presbyterian Church in America’s Coordinators’ and Presidents’ Statement on Heinous Killings on the Occasion of its Second Anniversary
The Statement offered a response to the turbulent social climate occasioned by “the heinous killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the systemic mistreatment of many other people of color.”
Those that are involved may consider that Christ commissioned the church to make disciples of all nations, not to make all nations fit an ideal social vision that has never been realized in this life; that she should not give aid to those whose actions stir up strife rather than peace; and that we have... Continue Reading
The Decline of the Book & the Fall of Western Civilization
Soon the shelves will be gone, the books sold, leaving only the people, staring mesmerized at their screens. They won’t even notice that the books have been taken away.
A book can almost have a personality. It was written by somebody, and it is about something. Neither of these things can be said of a Kindle, or a Nook, or an iPad. They are not written at all and are not about anything. After libraries have all closed down or become free computer centers, there... Continue Reading
Evangelicals and Their Nietzschean National Security Nightmare
The fact that our government and NATO see all their decisions and actions after the Cold War as infallible is proof of their belief in their own divinity.
NATO has absorbed nearly all the former Warsaw Pact countries and Baltic states that were once aligned with the former Soviet Union. To channel Mearsheimer one more time, America and NATO want us to believe that all their actions and decisions since the fall of the Soviet Union were virtuous and morally right. “This war,”... Continue Reading
Why a Healthy Society Requires Honoring Your Father and Mother
The precept of honoring one’s parents is a force throughout one’s entire life. One is never free from this obligation.
In a liberal society, the aging individual, who was spared the burden of honoring his parents and grandparents in his youth, finds that he is disregarded and neglected…in the same way by his own children and grandchildren (if he has any children and grandchildren). Having dishonored his own parents by leaving them to age without... Continue Reading
What Happened to Liberalism?
Liberalism appears to be dead, or nearly so. But is it?
We have not yet deprived liberalism of one of its most effective criticisms—namely, that conservative Christianity tends to focus on personal salvation and doctrinal precision to the unnecessary exclusion of concern for the poor and the problems of the world. As a formal movement embedded in mainline seminaries and denominations, American Protestant liberalism has... Continue Reading
Unless The Church of Scotland Returns To The Gospel, It Will Die
When the world lauds the Church for adopting its values, it is a sign that the Church is unnecessary, irrelevant and judged by Christ.
Unless the Church of Scotland returns to the Gospel, it will die. To some, this seems a strange statement. What does same-sex marriage have to do with the Gospel? It’s straightforward. We do not make up the Gospel. We receive it by revelation from Christ – through his word. Part of that is his teaching... Continue Reading
A Response to Sojourners’ President Adam Taylor’s Call to Protect Abortion Rights
A response to the article "As a Christian, I Want to Reduce Abortion, Not Overturn Roe.”
I noticed you feel great compassion for women in crisis. While this is commendable, I am concerned by the lack of similar concern for babies. You mentioned a woman’s right to abortion eight times and a child’s right to life once. And that your prescription for limiting the number of abortions is based on government... Continue Reading
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