NBC Nightly News produced a feature on the emerging church in which Tom Brokaw interviewed Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It’s a short, but interesting bit. Dr. Mohler does a great job, as usual. I would make one observation about this piece. It seems to me that the media’s interest in the emerging church is almost entirely political. Brokaw’s coverage in this segment is a case in point. Underlying Brokaw’s attention to the new movement is a curiosity about how this new section of evangelicalism will affect electoral politics. I suppose that this should not be very surprising. But it is interesting to note…
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The Phony YouTube Debate
On Wednesday night, CNN hosted a “YouTube” debate for the Republican candidates for President. Questions came to the candidates from “ordinary” citizens who videoed themselves asking questions about the important issues of our time. Anderson Cooper hosted the event for CNN, and it came off without a hitch . . . until the post debate discussion.
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Support CBMW, but count the cost.
David Kotter, the Executive Director of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), has some wise words about how to prioritize your giving for kingdom causes. Read this one, and support CBMW.
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Huckabee Clinches Nomination with Chuck Norris’ Endorsement
In case you didn’t know, Chuck Norris has a huge cult following among the American electorate. And he has recently thrown his weighty political endorsement to presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. This is big news, because we all know that the world must defer to the superior martial arts skills of Chuck Norris. Here are some facts to support the point:
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Southern Baptists, Calvinism, and W. A. Criswell
Are Southern Baptists Calvinists? That’s one of the questions being discussed this week in Ridgecrest, North Carolina at the conference “Building Bridges: Southern Baptists and Calvinism.” This conference could not have come at a better time, given that debates about Calvinism among Southern Baptist often generate more heat than light. I have great hopes for better things from this conference. Speakers include Albert Mohler, David Dockery, Malcolm Yarnell, Tom Nettles, Voddie Baucham, Danny Akin, Tom Ascol, and many others. You can podcast the messages from the conference through iTunes at the following link: Building Bridges Podcast (SEBTS Audio). Or you can visit Lifeway’s site and download the MP3 messages directly…
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Programming Note: Luke’s Gospel in Prime Time
This is a programming note about a special television broadcast this evening. Tonight on ABC at 7pm (Central Time) there will be a one hour broadcast that culminates with the reading of Luke 2:8-14. The broadcast will consider the excesses of holiday commercialism and then conclude with the assertion that the real meaning of Christmas is to be found Luke 2:8-14. This program might seem to be sort of an odd thing to find among the banal offerings of prime time television in 2007. But the broadcast is actually an annual event, and I’ll bet you’re already familiar with it. The program is called “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I’ll be…
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Who Would Jesus Bomb?
Don’t miss Russell Moore’s “Who Would Jesus Bomb? War, Peace, and the Christian.” In this short essay, Moore considers the poles of pacifism and militarism and suggests that the Just-War tradition is the best way for Christians to think about issues of war and peace. Here’s a snippet: “When, if ever, is it right for a government to kill people? As you sort out the ethics of war, the stakes are high for your spiritual formation. Sure, you probably won’t single-handedly decide whether the United States should invade Canada. But the way you think through the rightness or wrongness of military action tells you something about how you see your…
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McKnight vs. “Hyper-Calvinismâ€
Scot McKnight has posted a letter from one of his readers who is having problems with “hyper-Calvinists,” but the difficulties to which he refers include nothing of what hyper-Calvinists actually believe. Rather, the real difficulty with the ones that he labels “hyper-Calvinists” is that they are self-righteous and condescending in their eagerness about regular Calvinism. If the letter-writer’s description is accurate, then the problem is not Hyper-Calvinism or even regular Calvinism. The problem is sin—self-righteousness, condescension, and arrogance, to be specific.
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Well, I’m just sick.
LSU laid an egg tonight as they lost to Arkansas 50-48 in the third overtime. Some thoughts. 1. Poor execution. In the first qaurter, the LSU offense got into the red zone twice, but failed to make touchdowns. Instead of 14 points, they settled for 6. National championship teams should be able to close that deal by this point in the season. LSU didn’t.
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Two Thoughts on Thanksgiving
Today is a holiday, so my post will be brief. 1. Do not miss John Piper’s short essay “Ganging Up on Gratitude.” It’s an exhortation to an atheist and a liberal Bishop who have a chip on their respective shoulders when it comes to giving thanks to God. Piper engages them evangelistically, and it reminds me why I am thankful to the Lord for the ministry of John Piper. 2. There’s a hymn that I learned in church as a youngster that I don’t often hear anymore (Thanks, Mom and Dad for taking me to church. What a heritage of grace!). Maybe some of you remember it. It’s called “Count…