We live in a day in which many people have written off evangelical faith. The notion that Christian truth might still be relevant or viable in 2011 seems a far-fetched idea to many in our culture. Nevertheless, God raises up in every generation a people who live and preach otherwise. Civilizations come and go, but the truth of the gospel remains. That is why I am grateful to have contributed to a recent book that reaffirms the essentials of the evangelical faith, Don’t Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day (edited by Kevin DeYoung). The title of the book is a riff on the lyrics of…
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John Piper and Jesse Jackson
John Piper preaches a message on racial reconciliation every year on the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day. One of my favorites is his sermon from 2000 on Ephesians 2:11-22 titled “Race and Cross.” Piper begins the message with his own testimony of growing up in segregated Greenville, South Carolina. Across town another boy was growing up at the same time—Jesse Jackson. Piper’s testimony is below, but it will be worth your time to read or listen to the entire message. You can listen to the message below, or read the entire manuscript here. “Race and Cross” [audio:http://cdn.desiringgod.org/audio/2000/20000116.mp3]
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A Pro-life Conversion
Abby Johnson was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas in 2009 when she received the unusual request to assist one of the doctors with an abortion. Willing to fill-in for medical staff in a pinch, she agreed. Here’s how she describes what happened next:
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Can you say “evil�
I don’t know about you, but I have been appalled by the punditry since Saturday’s shooting. The rush to judgment. The crass attempts at political one-upmanship. The non-sequiturs like, “Perhaps this young man wasn’t motivated by political ideology, but we all need to tone down the rhetoric a bit. Because look what it leads to.” These people get paid a lot of money, but the analysis in this case has not been worth two bits. One of the most frustrating features of this commentary is the inability to speak in moral terms of what this young killer has done. That is why Kevin DeYoung’s remarks this morning are a must-read.…
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An MTV Abortion
Last week I saw a news story about the MTV program “16 and Pregnant,” which was set to air an episode featuring a young mother who chose to have an abortion. The mother’s name is Markai Durham, and she already had one child when she became pregnant a second time. She and the father decided that they didn’t have the resources to raise a second child, and that is why they chose to end the life growing inside her. The story of her first pregnancy and birth was the subject of an episode last November (full episode here). The story of her decision to abort her second child aired last…
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Pray for Christians in Egypt
Last week a suicide bomber attacked an Egyptian church and killed 22 people and injured 96 others. The bombing is said to be the worst attack on Christians in Egypt in at least a decade. The New York Times reports on the immediate aftermath: By Saturday evening, patches of blood were visible high on the front walls of the church, which was pockmarked with holes. Across the street, a mosque was also stained with blood. “There were bodies on the streets,” said Sherif Ibrahim, who saw the blast’s aftermath. “Hands, legs, stomachs. Girls, women and men.”
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Marvin Olasky on NIV 2011
Marvin Olasky editorializes in World magazine about the new NIV 2011. Although Zondervan does not reveal overall stats, its Bible market share is probably less than half what it was in 1997… I doubt that the new NIV will win back readers from other translations. For the record, blogger John Dyer found that 91 percent of the words in the new NIV, expected to hit bookstores in March, are unchanged from the old version. Most-removed words: “He,” “his,” or “him” 2,700 times, “man” or “men” 1,600 times, and “fathers,” “forefathers,” or “brothers” 500 times. Olasky concludes his article by saying that he is not a fan of the NIV 2011.…
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Don Miller’s 2011 Prediction
CNN’s Belief Blog asked 10 religious leaders and commentators to make a faith-based prediction about 2011. Don Miller, the author of Blue Like Jazz, weighed-in with the following: “As religious tensions grow over the coming presidential election and domestic cultural issues involving perceived legislation of morality, the media will find more zealous Christians reacting to the issues of the day whose extreme positions will further divide the evangelical church into radical positions, and turn away seekers looking for a peaceful resolution to the churning in their own souls. In other words, the devil will play a trick on the church, and the church will, like sheep, lose their focus on…
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Memorizing Philippians
Timmy Brister has produced a wonderful resource to aid in scripture memorization. It’s a moleskin designed to aid the memorization of Philippians (the whole book!) in 2011. Today is the first day. Download it here, and get started!
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John Piper Returns
I am grateful to see that John Piper has returned to public ministry. He has posted a short essay on what the Lord has been doing in his life during his leave. Read it here. Welcome back, Pastor John!