• Politics

    Why This Man Should Never Be President

    I already knew what his views were, but it is jarring to hear the words coming out of his mouth. In a speech to Planned Parenthood from last year (see video above), Senator Barack Obama favors the right to an abortion at every stage of pregnancy. In addition, he cites his opposition in the Illinois State legislature to the legal protection of babies that are born alive as a result of a failed abortion. This opposition was based on the argument that giving medical treatment to such babies after they are born might erode a woman’s right to choose as established by Roe. In Obama’s America, some babies who are…

  • Christianity,  Theology/Bible

    Carson on “Red-Letter Christians”

    D. A Carson has a theological wallop for the Red-Letter Christianity promoted by the likes of Tony Campolo. In the most recent issue of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Carson writes: “I’m suspicious of anyone who uses ‘kingdom’ only as an adjective, for usually it is merely a theologically posh way of approving one’s current theological and ethical agenda. If we like some ethical course, we label it ‘kingdom ethics’ and bless it with a text, and epistemology is satisfied. “A particularly virulent form of this approach is hidden behind what Tony Campolo now approvingly calls ‘red letter Christians’. These red letter Christians, he says, hold the same theological…

  • Christianity,  Culture,  Politics

    Albert Mohler on Gay “Marriage” Case

    Yesterday, Dr. Albert Mohler’s radio program covered the Supreme Court of California’s decision to overturn the statewide Gay “Marriage” ban. His guests are Maggie Gallagher and Dr. John Eastman, and you’ll want to hear this one. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/MP3/totl/2008/AMP_05_15_2008.mp3] One of the most troubling aspects of this decision is that the court classes homosexuality as if it were a characteristic like race or gender. Mohler writes: ‘The court also declared sexual orientation to be a class protected by a “strict scrutiny” test of all legislation and regulation. In so doing, the California court became the first in the nation to apply this test on the basis of sexual orientation. This move also…

  • Christianity

    SBC’ers Call for Integrity in Church Membership

    Here’s some inside baseball for all you fellow Southern Baptists out there. This summer at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, messengers will likely have the opportunity to vote on a resolution calling for integrity in church membership. What that means, in short, is that there’s likely to be a resolution calling on Southern Baptists to keep their membership limited to those who are regenerate. I won’t be at the Convention in Indianapolis this summer and unfortunately won’t be able to cast a vote. Readers may remember that I spoke in favor of Tom Ascol’s resolution last year and even interviewed him about it in advance of the…

  • Culture,  News,  Politics

    Ca. Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

    Here’s a link to the California Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the statewide ban on gay “marriage.” Here’s the report from the Associated Press: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The California Supreme Court has overturned a ban on gay marriage, paving the way for California to become the second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry. The justices released the 4-3 decision Thursday, saying that domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage in an opinion written by Chief Justice Ron George. The cases were brought by the city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples, Equality California and another gay rights group in March 2004…

  • Christianity

    Caner says, “I never signed it.”

    Dr. Ergun Caner is the President of Liberty Theological Seminary, a school founded by the late Dr. Jerry Falwell. Many were surprised to see his name among the charter signatories of “An Evangelical Manifesto.” He writes, ‘In recent days, I became aware that my name is on the list of “Charter Signatories” for the Evangelical Manifesto (EM). ‘There is only one problem: I never signed it.

  • Christianity,  Personal

    Note: A New Ministry and a New Article

    Congratulations to my good friend Jim Hamilton who has just been appointed Associate Professor of Biblical Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Jim is the most prolific young scholar that I know, and his work in both testaments in the area of biblical theology has been a great contribution to the church. Southern could not have gotten a better guy. You can read the announcement here. On a side note, Jim and I wrote a little article together for JBMW last fall, and it has recently been made available for free download from the CBMW website. The article was a brief survey of younger evangelicals and…

  • Christianity,  Theology/Bible

    Irving Bible Church Goes Egalitarian?

    In 2003, Pastor Rob Bell led Mars Hill Bible Church to amend its constitution and statement of faith in order to open all offices-including that of elder-to women. It was a high-profile egalitarian conversion of an entire church that received no little attention in the blogosphere (see here for the story). Earlier this month, a high-profile Bible Church in my own city made a similar move. Irving Bible Church (IBC) is a large Bible Church in the Dallas area. It is one of the many Bible Churches in our city that represents an important constituency of Dallas Theological Seminary. Recently, the elders of IBC published a website explaining how they…

  • Christianity,  Politics

    Evangelicals Less Relevant Than Ever Before?

    Andy Crouch is an editor at Christianity Today. Recently he commented on the fact that more and more evangelicals are leaving behind abortion and marriage as transcendent moral values in their choice for President next November. He writes: “This could turn out to be the election where both parties realize that the evangelical vote is so hopelessly split down the middle that it’s not worth courting them at all because what parties need are blocs that can be appealed to en masse. Paradoxically, evangelicals would become less relevant than ever before.” Well, Crouch certainly right about that. For more on evangelicals who no longer prioritize defending the unborn, read here:…

  • Christianity,  Politics

    A Response to Daniel Wallace

    Dr. Darrell Bock and I have been discussing our differences about the “Evangelical Manifesto” in my previous post, and I want to continue that conversation here. But this time, I’m going to post my response to another one of my former professors who has signed the document, Dr. Daniel Wallace. Dr. Wallace was a mentor to me when I was a graduate student, and I am very grateful for his ministry to me over the years. So I offer this response with humble regards. His endorsement is here, and he expresses his hope that many will sign the Manifesto. What follows is an item that I left in the comments…