• Christianity,  Culture

    John Calvin Pumpkin Template

    In honor of Reformation Day, Timothy Paul Jones has linked to a John Calvin pumpkin template, and I think this is the one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen. You’ll have to be a true artisan to carve this design, but I’m sure that if you can get it done this pumpkin will scare a whole lot of people away from your front door!

  • Christianity

    Mohler Responds to New York Times Op-Ed

    Last week, Karl Giberson and Randall Stephens wrote an Op-Ed for The New York Times in which they critique what they see as the anti-intellectualism of evangelicalism. Their complaint, however, really amounted to a disdain for the authority of the Bible. Today, Albert Mohler has penned an excellent response. He concludes:

  • Christianity,  Music

    Tim McGraw Sings Petra Classic “More Power To Ya”

    Tim McGraw performed the classic Petra song “More Power To Ya” in 2005 for “A Concert for Hurricane Relief” sponsored by the Red Cross. This concert is mainly remembered for the infamous Kanye West tirade. I had entirely forgotten about McGraw’s performance and did not even know that this recording existed until Tim Challies pointed it out today. I am betting that I am not the only one who will be eager to hear it. I was only able to find the recording on YouTube. If anyone out there knows an album that this is on, please leave the info in the comments. I will pass the album title on…

  • Christianity,  Sports

    Why Is Tebow Hated So Much?

    Tim Tebow has been the talk of the nation since he was announced as the new starting quarterback for the Denver, Broncos. As usual, Tebow has gotten a lot of love from his fans and a lot of grief from his detractors. Jelisa Castrodale has a story at NBC Sports today that reminds me of why it might be a good idea to pray for the guy. There are a lot of people out there pulling against Tebow, and I am not talking about football or the big game on Sunday. What I am talking about are the cynics out there who want Tebow not only to fail at football…

  • Christianity

    Celebrity Pastors and Hero Worship

    John Piper has some helpful, biblical reflections on celebrity pastors and hero worship. In a blog post from 2009, he writes: What is the meaning of the attention given to well-known pastors? What does the desire for autographs and photographs mean? The negative meaning would be something akin to name-dropping. Our egos are massaged if we can say we know someone famous. You see this on blogs with words like “my friend Barack” and the like. And I presume that, for some, an autograph or a photo has the same ego-boost.

  • Christianity

    “Evangelicals” Despising Evangelicals

    In an Op-Ed for today’s New York Times, Karl Giberson and Randall Stephens complain about anti-intellectualism among evangelicals. They cite as a case in point the GOP primary field, some of whom reject evolution and that climate change is real and caused by humans. For Giberson and Stephens, these two items constitute prima facie evidence that evangelicals have checked their brains at the door. They go on to criticize Jim Dobson, Ken Hamm, and David Barton as if these three were the keepers of the entire evangelical intellectual tradition. I mean no disrespect to these three men. But if Giberson and Stephens think that these three represent the “evangelical mind,”…

  • Christianity

    Albert Mohler Comments on Evangelical Critics

    Albert Mohler has a must-read column at CNN.com. It appeared as a lead story on the front page of CNN.com all day Sunday, and there is a good reason for that. He asks and answers the questsion, “Are evangelicals dangerous?” He surveys a number of different items from the news over the last year showing that there are many in our culture who think that evangelicals are indeed dangerous. Mohler shows that those people tend to be secularists whose vision of the world is rather parochial. Commenting on Ryan Lizza’s hit-piece on Michelle Bachmann last summer, Mohler writes, What stories like this really show is that the secular elites assume…

  • Book Reviews,  Christianity

    Tim Challies on John Eldredge’s New Book

    Tim Challies is sharing excerpts from John Eldredge’s strange new book Beautiful Outlaw. What’s strange about it? It’s the stories Eldredge tells about the various ways God communicates with him through signs and visions. But these aren’t your run-of-the-mill charismatic expressions; they’re pretty weird. In one vision, Eldredge claims that Jesus was wearing a pirate hat. In one sign, Eldredge claims that God gave him a heart-shaped piece of manure to show how much He loved him. I’m not making this up. You can go follow all of this at Tim Challies’ blog. I’ll print the first to excerpts below.