John Piper has just responded to Barack Obama’s decision to invite Gene Robinson to pray at his inauguration, and it is hard-hitting material. The title says it all: “How Barack Obama Will Make Christ a Minister of Condemnation.” Piper concludes: “The gospel, with its forgiveness and deliverance from homosexual practice, offers salvation. Gene Robinson, with his blessing and approval of homosexual practice, offers damnation. And he does it in the name of Christ. “It is as though Obama sought out a church which blessed stealing and adultery, and then chose its most well-known thief and adulterer, and asked him to pray. “One more time: The issue here is not that…
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More on the Gay Bishop at Inauguration
On Monday, I noted that President-elect Barack Obama has invited openly gay bishop Gene Robinson to pray at the inauguration. The New York Times reports on this selection and includes a brief interview with Bishop Robinson:
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Gay Bishop To Pray at Inaugural Event
President-elect Barack Obama got a lot of flak from his base when he tapped Rick Warren to pray at the presidential swearing-in ceremony. Warren was unpopular with some of the left-wing because of his support for California’s Proposition 8, which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
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Boyce College Worship
Buck Buchanan leads worship in Boyce College’s weekly dorm meeting, and he and the worship band recently recorded an album of music from those meetings. I’m really grateful for these guys and want to share their work with you. There are seven songs, and you can download them free of charge at the following link. Zip File: Buck Buchanan – “Amen” Buck wrote to me about his goal for this album: “My prayer with this project was that God would work through this music and let people hear it that need to know the truth about Jesus.” That’s a prayer we can all agree with.
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Driscoll and the Calvinist Revival
Molly Worthen writes in the New York Times about Mark Driscoll’s ministry and its place within the revival of Calvinism among evangelicals. I think Worthen does some good reporting here, though her assessment of Driscoll’s theology is pretty negative.
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Richard John Neuhaus, 1936–2009
Joseph Bottum just announced on the First Things blog that Richard John Neuhaus has passed away. There will be more to say on this later, but for now here’s Bottum’s post:
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Can’t Get Enough of Carl Trueman
I agree with Justin Taylor who feels a tad embarrassed that he posts everything Carl Trueman writes. Contrary to what you might think (given all the links I give to Dr. Trueman), I am not getting paid for this. I really do think Trueman’s stuff is just that good. His latest essay for Reformation21 is a must-read: “Why Are There Never Enough Parking Spaces at the Prostate Clinic?” It’s a wry look at evangelicals who are obsessed with cultural analysis and cultural relevance. His contention is that an obsession with culture can undermine a Christian commitment to universal truths. He writes:
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Billy Graham and Church Membership
Billy Graham never lived in Dallas, Texas, but his membership has been at the First Baptist Church in Dallas since 1953. The Dallas Morning News now reports that Rev. Graham has moved his membership to the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Here’s the full report below.
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The Incarnation
There is hardly anything more mysterious and wonderful to me than the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God became a man. Jesus Christ is at once fully God and fully man. God took on mortal human flesh and became subject to all the things that every other mortal is subject to. He sneezed. He coughed. He got headaches and an upset stomach. Every morning he got up, shook the dust out of His hair, and served His Father faithfully. Jesus Christ was not only subject to sickness, but also to death. The eternal Son of God was die-able. In fact, he did die. And three days later, what was mortal became…
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More on the Rick Warren Controversy
Albert Mohler has a short article on Rick Warren’s decision to pray at the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. At the end, Mohler explains why he would not accept such an invitation: “Would I deliver the invocation at the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States? Well, I have not been asked, but I can imagine that it would be difficult to turn down this invitation. After all, the inaugural ceremony is a national event, not a personal ceremony. Yet, in the end, the context of this inaugural ceremony would not allow me to accept. President-elect Obama has pledged to sign legislation including the Freedom of Choice…