Here’s another video from a “9Marks at 9” event at the SBC earlier this summer. This one is Danny Akin, Albert Mohler, David Platt, and Mark Dever. (HT: Marcus Glover)
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Boy Survives after Being under Water for 20 Minutes
A twelve year old boy named Dale Ostrander was with his church youth group on a beach trip when he was pulled out to sea by a rip current. Reports say that he was under water and without oxygen for about 20 minutes. He was expected to die, or at best, to be a vegetable for the rest of his life. It turns out that the prognosis was wrong.
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Another Important Postscript on the Wild Goose Festival
A few weeks ago, I wrote a “post-op” piece on the recent “Wild Goose Festival” that included a variety of reports about how the conference went. It turned out to be a kind of would-be-Woodstock for Emergent church types. The speaker line-up was a list of progressive all-stars: Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, Shane Claiborne, Tony Jones, and many others. Musicians included Derek Webb, Jennifer Knapp, and others. A reporter from The Economist said that about 1,500 people showed up, and they included “artists and musicians, nonconformists, post-Christians, non-Christians, disaffected evangelicals and a liberal evangelical subset known as the ’emergent’ church.”
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Christian Musician Says Complementarianism is “Oppression”
Vicky Beeching is a British contemporary Christian musician and worship leader who has recorded five albums since 2002. If you have never heard of her before, then chances are that you have heard at least one of her songs. She co-wrote the popular anthem “Glory to God Forever,” and churches across the country routinely include this song during worship services. Recently Beeching posted a critical remark about Complementarianism on her Facebook page (see below), and then invited readers to respond with “BIBLICALLY BACKED UP, theologically well explained” responses. So I’ve decided to take her up on her invitation in this space. I thought this would be a great opportunity to…
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Newsflash: Christians Continue To Hold Christian Beliefs
Stop the presses! Newsflash from NBC’s Jamie Novogrod! Here’s the scoop: Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann yesterday attended a church here in Iowa, where the pastor called homosexuality “immoral” and “unnatural,” and later showed a testimonial video from a man who claimed to have been gay before having a conversation with God. Hold on a minute. A Christian presidential candidate visits a Christian church that espouses Christian doctrine. I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly sure what is so newsworthy about this report. Let’s think through the possibilities. Which of the following do you think makes this item newsworthy?
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How Long Is Too Long for a Sermon?
Pastors, if you are not following Brian Croft’s “Practical Shepherding” blog, you need to. He consistently has great, relevant content that I think you would find helpful. His latest post is titled, “How Long Should My Sermons Be When I Preach?” And it’s about just what you think it’s about—the length of your sermons. Brian doesn’t mandate a certain length, but rather gives a set of principles to consider. He says that pastor should determine the length of his sermon… 1) Based on where your people are, not where you think they should be. 2) Based on how good and seasoned a preacher you are. 3) To leave your people…
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Fascinating Interview with Tim Challies
Is there a code among Christian bloggers that determines who writes what and when? Is there any competition among Christian bloggers? Are there any topics that are off-limits? These are but three questions from a fascinating interview with Christian uber-blogger Tim Challies. Challies.com is one of the most widely read Christian blogs on the planet, and I found his answers to the questions to be refreshingly candid. There are sixteen questions in all (see below), and you can read Challie’s answers here.
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J. I. Packer Delivers the Sermon at John Stott’s Memorial
(HT: John Starke)
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Michele Bachman’s Leap of Faith
Ryan Lizza has written a thoroughly unflattering article about Michele Bachmann for The New Yorker titled “Leap of Faith: The Making of a Republican Front-runner.” The article takes a close look at her Christianity as a key to understanding her candidacy. He writes: Bachmann belongs to a generation of Christian conservatives whose views have been shaped by institutions, tracts, and leaders not commonly known to secular Americans, or even to most Christians. Her campaign is going to be a conversation about a set of beliefs more extreme than those of any American politician of her stature, including Sarah Palin, to whom she is inevitably compared. Christian readers will be interested…
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Governor Rick Perry’s Speech at “The Response”
Perhaps you heard the news about a giant prayer gathering in Houston, Texas yesterday called “The Response.” About 25,000 people gathered to pray and to hear messages from a variety of different speakers. One of the speakers was Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is expected to announce his candidacy for U.S. President by the end of the month.