Mark Tooley has profiled the 2008 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention for The Weekly Standard. He writes: ‘Are Southern Baptists “dwindling”? Recent headlines about the annual meeting of the 16.27 million member Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) refer to its ostensible struggles with membership decline. Having lost 40,000 members last year, America’s second biggest religious body was described as “dwindling” . . .
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Every War Is a War of Choice
In 2004, Tim Russert challenged President Bush with this question, “In light of not finding the weapons of mass destruction, do you believe the war in Iraq is a war of choice or a war of necessity?” President Bush stumbled in his reply, “I think that’s an interesting question. Please elaborate on that a little bit.” Even though President Bush was unable to answer the question, Russert was merely highlighting the fact that opponents of the Iraq War frequently criticize the conflict as a “war of choice” rather than a “war of necessity.” It was a fair question and deserved a better answer than what the President gave.
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Maggie Gallagher on California Gay “Marriageâ€
Maggie Gallagher on the California Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay “marriage”: ‘If the California decision stands, there simply is no longer any case to be made we have begun to win the war for judicial restraint. If a court can rule that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right (i.e., one deeply rooted in our nation’s traditions) then it can make up anything. Elite legal minds get to figure out what they think and break it to the rest of us once they’ve decided. . .
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The Faith of Tim Russert
Don’t miss Jon Meacham’s compelling article on Tim Russert’s earnest Roman Catholic faith. One of the great anecdotes from the article is story of Russert trying to convince Meacham to appear on “Meet the Press” to “defend the faith” against the atheism of Christopher Hitchens.
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Tommy Nelson on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood
On Sunday, Pastor Tommy Nelson of Denton Bible Church kicked-off a three part series on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The issue has become somewhat of a hot-button in the Dallas area as a result of a high-profile Bible church that recently embraced egalitarianism (read about it here). Pastor Nelson did a great job of confronting the error of egalitarianism and of setting forth a biblical overview of the complementarian position. If you are interested, you can listen to the sermon below. [audio:http://dbcmedia.org/podcasts/1307-061508.mp3] The sermon had four main points:
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Some Thoughts about Resolution 6
Last Wednesday, the messengers at the 2008 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention passed resolution 6, which calls on Southern Baptist churches to repent of their failure to live up to their professed commitment to regenerate church membership and to reinstitute the practice of redemptive church discipline. By all accounts, the resolution passed overwhelmingly (see here, here, here).
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Tim Russert (1950-2008)
NBC broke into its regularly scheduled programming yesterday with the news bulletin that you see above. They announced the sudden death of Tim Russert, their premier political analyst and long-time host of “Meet the Press.” He will be missed. Psalm 90:12So teach us to number our days, That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.
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Interview with N. T. Wright
Dr. Jerry Johnson interviewed Bishop N. T. Wright for Criswell College’s radio program, “Jerry Johnson Live.” The interview begins at 17:09. [audio:https://www.dennyburk.com/JJL/2008_06_11.mp3]
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Criswell College Students on Relief Mission
The local FOX News affiliate produced a short news piece on students from Criswell College who went to Indianapolis, Indiana to help out with flood relief. You can watch it here.
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President Bush Regrets Being Misunderstood
The Times of London has a fascinating exclusive interview with President Bush. Here’s an excerpt: ‘In an exclusive interview, he expressed regret at the bitter divisions over the war and said that he was troubled about how his country had been misunderstood. “I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric.” ‘Phrases such as “bring them on” or “dead or alive”, he said, “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace.”‘ When I read those lines, it reminded me of a sermon by John Piper from 2004 in which he rebuked the “swagger” of the President. I think Piper…